Renewel
by AngelEddison
Summary: Updated. Sara and Grissom become the targets of a dangerous criminal during an investigation. Sorry, sucky summary, but I don't want to give anything away.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've updated this, separating the chapters

**A/N: I've updated this, separating the chapters. This took me a while to write but when it was done I was really happy with it. Please let me know what you think. **

**Warning: This story contains graphic scenes of sexual assault. If this is too much for you, I wouldn't suggest reading. It's rated M for a reason.**

**Disclaimer: Just borrowing them for awhile. I'm sorry for treating them in such a way, but when the muse hits me with an idea, well, what can we do to stop it?**

**- RENEWAL -**

**Chapter One: A Bad Feeling**

"Something bad is going to happen."

She stated it very matter-of-factly and surprisingly calm and completely out of the blue, it caught him by surprise. They had been sitting there for the last hour or so like they always did. He was doing the crossword puzzle, seated upright on the end of the sofa, feet crossed at the ankles and resting on the coffee table, and she was laying across the sofa with her head propped up on his lap with a small throw pillow and her feet also crossed at the ankles but hanging off the other edge of the couch, doing another sudoku puzzle out of the book he had gotten her a few weeks back. But then she has to break the tradition and startle him out of his concentration and with none other than an eerie comment like that. He slowly placed the crossword down on the end table, removed his glasses and hesitantly looked down at her. The sight he saw was not what he expected. She was just lying there, crunching numbers in her head trying to figure out which one belonged in that cell. She didn't look at all like someone who had just stated an impending doom.

"Sara?"

"Hmm?" She replied, not bothering to look away from her puzzle.

"What's going to happen?" He asked, not sure if wanted to know the answer. But as always curiosity gave way.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she scribbled anxiously into her page.

"Sara…um…you just said that something bad is going to happen." He was almost beginning to doubt that she had even spoken, that it had just been in his mind.

"Yeah." She said, as if wondering why he pointing that out.

"So what is going to happen?" Now he was about ready to rip the puzzle book out of her hands and make her look at him.

"I don't know...Oh yes!" She just about shouted.

"What?!" He yelped just as loud, clearly confused.

"Hmm? Oh, I just finished this square." She said as she continued on to the next square of the puzzle.

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD SARA!!"

That got her to release the puzzle book onto her lap and look up at him.

"Griss…What?"

"What the hell is going on? You just slip out this comment of impending doom and then pay it no attention and continue on with that damn puzzle!" His voice was hard but low. Clearly irritated and confused. Sort of like when he's trying to get Greg to just give him a straight answer.

"Oh, that. It's just this feeling that I have. And by the way, you're the one that got me that damn puzzle." She said with a smirk.

"Yes I did. You're right, but that's beside the point. And what do you mean that it's just a feeling you have?" His voice now back to being calm and even, and with one look at the smirk on her face, he couldn't help but smile himself.

"I don't know. I just have this feeling. It's like ever since I was a little kid, I always knew when something bad was going to happen, because everything right before felt so good. Nothing bad has happened in a while. Even our cases at work have been minor lately. Things with us have been well, wonderful, never mind the sex." She had to add the last part, if only to see him blush. But it wasn't a lie, their sex life was to say the least, incredible. "So I don't know, now I just get this feeling that everything is going to fall apart, that the cycle of good and bad is about to shift again and something bad is going to happen…" She was cut short by the increasing laughter of Grissom above her.

Sensing her venomous stare on him, he quickly tried to stifle his laughter.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly between his gasps for air.

"What the hell is so funny?" She said, rather annoyed.

"I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I just think that you are so adorable. Really I'm sorry I shouldn't have laughed, but you really are just one of a kind."

"Yeah, well don't believe me, but just remember this when the dark cloud comes." She said as she sat up and started to walk away.

"Sara, wait!" he yelled to her as he too got up and started walking to her.

Looking over her shoulder at him approaching she let a large and mischievous smile spread across her lips.

"What?" He asked, almost fearing for his life. When it came to Sara Sidle and that smile, he was either about to have the best experience of his life, or she was planning on the best way to dispose of his body.

"Well, whether you believe it or not something bad is going to happen. So I was just thinking that maybe we should something good while we can." She said rather seductively as she turned completely to face him and began walking backwards down the hall to their bedroom.

Grissom was anything, but he was not stupid. He quickly caught on and started chasing after her down the hall. When she saw him start to run toward her, she squealed and ran away from him, resulting in the chase throughout the house that inevitably ended with Grissom charging at her in the kitchen, picking her up completely off the floor when she accidentally pinned herself in a corner. He carried her over his shoulder like a potato sack and both were laughing hysterically with him grabbing her ass as he ran towards the bedroom and her trying to undo his pants with her head and torso hanging down his back. She was able to get his belt off and used it to whip his butt lightly as he ran; her positioning making it quite easy.

Before she could finish undoing his pants he flipped her quickly onto the soft mattress, the force of it causing her body to bounce a few times on the bed. Which for him was nothing but sexy. The way her whole body bounced was quite intoxicating and he could no longer control himself, he lunged forward onto the bed, kissing her with passion and fire.

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Whilst Grissom and Sara were taking a part in physical exercise, on the other side of town that dark cloud was looming, and taking several victims in its path. The dark cloud taking the form of a dangerous predator taking joy in inflicting pain on couples throughout the city. Tonight so far there had already been two attacks, and the best were needed to solve these viscous crimes.

Brass, disgusted at the second scene he had visited so far, knew what was needed. Taking out his cell phone, he pressed in the speed dial number and pressed send.

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Back at their house things were far from gloomy. Sweaty and breathless, yes, but not gloomy. Things were just about to come to an explosive end when a piercing noise interrupted their attempt at ecstasy. Releasing from the deep kiss, Grissom rested his forehead on Sara's, and together they turned to the nightstand to see the source of the interruption.

"Yours." She said with a deep sigh of disappointment and breathlessness.

Still inside her he reached over to the table and retrieved his cell phone. Grunting when he saw that it was Brass.

"It's Brass." He said with a grunt.

"See I told you, we couldn't even finish our 'good time' before the bad started." She replied, huffing out a deep breath and slamming her head back into the pillow.

Kissing her softly he flipped open the phone and raised it to his ear.

"G-Gris-ssom." He attempted to say but Sara was making it very difficult, clenching her muscles down around him and licking his other ear.

"Hey Gil, it's Jim. Look, I know it's your night off, but we've got what I'm pretty sure is a serial on our hands. I wouldn't call, but well, I need you."

Trying desperately to control his voice while Sara was basically torturing him, he grunted and rubbed his eyes.

"Gil?" Jim asked after he received no response.

"Hmm? Yeah, um…Just, uh, give me an hour. I'll take S-Sara. I mean, I'll...I'll bring Sara with me. Mmmm." He stuttered out as Sara successfully flipped them so that he was now on his back and she had begun slowly thrusting her hips up and down on him.

"Gil? Are you alright?" Jim asked, trying very hard to keep his laughter quiet. He was not stupid, he knew that he interrupting something, and he was pretty sure what and with whom it was.

"Yeah…uh, huh. I'm good. I'll see you later Jim." He said quickly and then slapped the phone shut and threw it to the floor.

"You are an evil, evil woman!" He said as he kissed her hard and flipped them back over.

"Ah, but you love me." She said with a giggle as he continued thrusting into her.

"Yes I do. And now, I think that Jim knows just how much." He retorted making her laugh even harder.

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The ride to the crime scene, after calling Brass for an address, was filled with casual conversation and laughing, holding each other's hand the entire time. When they finally arrived at the scene, they released their hands and stepped out of the Denali, walking around to the back to grab their kits.

"Ready my love?" Grissom asked as he put on his vest.

"Always." She replied, smiling as she put her own vest on.

Together they walked to the officer standing guard at the yellow 'crime scene' tape. They flashed their badges and he held the tape up for them to go under. They found Brass within seconds talking to an officer.

"Brass." Grissom greeted as they reached him.

"Grissom." He responded, then turned to Sara and smiled very brightly. "Sara. Thanks for coming in on your night off, I know you guys were both probably…busy." He said smiling triumphantly at the sight of their faces, both of them had gone from professional to complete and utter fire-engine red. He had to wonder if there was any blood left in the rest of their bodies.

"What do we have here?" Sara asked, breaking the silence and trying to force through embarrassment.

Grissom looking off in any direction but Brass began to survey the scene. Taking in the nice neighborhood, one in which you would love to raise your kids in. The house was small, but quaint and cozy, full green lawn and a little garden out front, with the white fence and everything. From the outside everything looked, well, peaceful.

"Rape. Victim is one Kristen Gardner. Her and her husband, a…Mike Gardner, were home alone when they were attacked."

"They? You mean they were both…" Grissom started.

"She was raped. He was beat up pretty badly, tied up and forced to watch his wife's attack. She was also beaten pretty bad, tied to the bed and raped at knife point."

"Where are they now?" Sara asked, also taking in the quiet neighborhood.

"Taken to Desert Palms. I have Catherine over there processing them. But that's not all." He trailed off, waiting for them to focus back on him.

"What do you mean? What else?" Grissom asked exchanging a look with Sara before returning his attentions to Brass.

"This isn't the only one. About four hours before this attack there was another one about three miles east of here. Caitlyn Rodgers and her live-in boyfriend Max Welton. Same MO."

"Alright, we'll process this scene and then go from there." Grissom said as he and Sara stepped away from Brass and towards the entrance of the house.

"See what did I tell you? Bad things…" Sara said smirking at Grissom.

He couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, it could all just be that you have the thought in your head and your just perceiving reality to fit your theory."

"I'm right and you know it. You just don't want to admit it, that you ever doubted the Great and Powerful Sara Sidle." She said jokingly, in which he had to laugh.

"Okay, but just remember that the Great and Powerful Oz ended up being just an ordinary guy behind a curtain." He retorted back as they began to survey the scene, but smiling uncontrollably.

"Perhaps, but he did end up showing the Lion that he had courage, the Scarecrow that he had a brain and the Tin Man that he had a heart, and he even got Dorothy and Toto home to Kansas. So there, I was right. But don't worry I'll let you make it up to me later." She said with a wink as she headed off into the bedroom to process.

Standing there for a minute stunned by 'The Great and Powerful Sara' he realized that she was right, and come to think of it…

Walking in to the bedroom he watched her silently for few moments as she began filtering through the room.

"You know…" He started, coming to kneel beside her on the floor where the husband had been.

He had moved so quietly into the room that she hadn't noticed him come in or come beside her. She jumped at the sound of his voice but quickly relaxed.

"What?" She asked, thinking that they were now in work mode.

"Well, I was just thinking about your 'holier than thou' complex, and it's kind of funny how you and the Great Oz are a lot alike." He stated as he began swabbing some blood from the wall and floor as she photographed.

"How so?" she asked with a light chuckle. The seriousness in his tone while relating her to Oz, she was finding quite humorous.

"Well," he started as he came again to be next to her. "Like the Scarecrow, you gave me reason to use my brain, to use it in a way I had never known before. I can use it to think freely now." Taking her hand, latex and all, he placed it over his heart. "Like the Tin Man, you gave me a heart, or showed me how to let it beat." Then he released her hand and leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "And like the Lion, your love taught me courage, courage to be with you."

Her eyes were watering, that was by far one of the sweetest things he'd ever said to her before.

"What about Dorothy and Toto?" She had to ask, she couldn't resist.

"Well, Oz brought them home. And you, my Dearest Sara, you are my home." He finished. He leaned in again and kissed her forehead before standing up and resuming his work.

"I love you." She said simply, looking over her shoulder at the man that stole her heart, smiling sweetly.

"And I love you." He responded.

A few moments went by in silence until something damned on her.

"Don't think this gets you out of making it up to me later." She said with a seductive smirk.

"I would never dream of it my lady." He said with a smile and a blush.

For the next several hours they processed the house, surprisingly coming up with a lot of evidence. DNA, fingerprints, shoe prints, fibers, the whole bit. A slam dunk, or so they thought. They worked in silence for the most part, comfortable silence with the occasional comment or question about the evidence. Finally after spending too long knelt down or crouching into some very awkward positions, they were ready to go. Packing up the evidence bags into boxes and closing up their kits, they walked out of the house together. The crowds around the yellow tape of nosy on lookers had dwindled down some, but there were still plenty of people and press awaiting any information.

Unaware anyone was watching or listening to them, they walked close together, talking like they normally would.

"My knees are killing me." He said as he placed the boxes in the back seat.

"Oh yeah? That's not what you were saying earlier." She said with a chuckle.

"You never stop do you?" He asked mock-serious, walking around to the other side to where she was placing their kits on the back seat.

"Never." She said playfully. "Can I drive?" She asked with such excitement it was as if she was a kid who had just gotten her learners permit.

"No." He stated simply.

"Oh come on, please?" She begged.

"No." he said again, a smile forming on his lips at the look on her face. It looked as though someone had just stolen her favorite Barbie.

"Oh come on Honey, I promise I won't get pulled over!" She started with the pout and he knew as well as she did that he couldn't resist.

"I hate it when you do that!" He grumbled as he handed her the keys.

"Thanks baby." She said as she ran around to the driver's side.

As they drove off, they left behind a single minded audience, watching after them carefully from the crowd. He had observed their behavior since they had arrived at the scene, except for the moments inside the house. He had them figured out in two minutes, whereas in two years trained investigators hadn't put two and two together. And the sight of a happy couple was by far sickening to him to say the least. They didn't deserve to be happy. And he was going to see to it that they weren't.

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"So we'll drop this stuff off at the lab and get it started, and then head home for the night. There's not really anything else we can do anyways, not until Catherine gets the rape kits processed. So we'll pick it up tomorrow." Grissom said as he watched her weaving in and out of traffic.

"Okay. Sounds good to me." She said, looking over to him briefly with a big smile plastered to her face.

"Tired?" He asked a few minutes later after she tried to fight a yawn.

"A little I guess." She said honestly as she pulled onto the road that housed the lab.

"Oh. Well I guess I'll have to make it up to you some other time. I mean if you're tired." He said as he turned to face out the windshield.

"Oh no you don't. I'm perfectly awake. If anything, your…punishment…will help me sleep better later."

His only reply was a great laugh as they pulled into the car park.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Punishment

**Chapter Two: Punishment**

'Look at them, so happy, so full of energy and life. I'll change all that. Just like I did with the others. Then they'll learn. They can't be happy. No one can.' He thought as he pulled over to the side of the road in front of the lab, just in time to see a tall brunette and her middle aged lover exiting their vehicle. 'Look how they try and hide it. How the make believe that they are not in love, that they are strictly friends and colleagues. As if it weren't written all over their faces.'

And thus he sat there, watching as they gathered boxes and cases from the back seat. Watched as the man held open the door for the woman and guided her into the building. 'Now all that's left it to wait. Wait for them to leave.'

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Surprisingly, it took over an hour to log all the evidence they had collected at the scene and to submit the blood, semen and hair samples to DNA. But now, finally they were finished. Signing her initials to one last form, she quickly stood, grabbed her jacket and rushed off in search of Grissom.

'He's nothing if not predictable.' She thought as she found him sitting behind his desk, pen in hand, scrawling his signature across the pages of the file on top. She couldn't help herself from just standing there watching him. He looked so cute when he was doing paperwork, the way he plays with the pen while he's reading and how he moves his mouth from side to side and then the little twinkle in his eye when he finishes, like he had just climbed Mount Everest. And finally, after he finishes, how he removes his glasses and places them on top of the file and then pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. He's just too cute.

After a few minutes of staring aimlessly at him at him, he finally looked up, sensing her presence. The look of Sara leaning effortlessly against his doorframe was one that he always wanted to capture and frame. The way her hip dipped to the side and her ankles crossed, the way her head tilted to the side to allow her to rest her head against the frame, the way the her arms crossed over her stomach and the way her jacket hung lightly over her arms, it was perfect. The best part, her smile. That smile could make the strongest man melt to pieces before her. And all he could do was smile and lean back in his chair and admire her.

"Hey." She said, blushing slightly at how much he was checking her out. She knew how much he loved it when she leaned in his doorway.

"You're beautiful." He said back in a hushed tone. Lately it seemed that he was getting more open about them being together, not caring as much if anyone found out. She was his and he was hers and he wasn't going to put a schedule on when he was allowed to have that anymore.

She could only blush further and smile. He was so sweet and she had to admit, she was enjoying this new side of him lately, the 'I don't give a damn where we are or who we're with, I love you and that's all that matters' attitude. It has been freeing.

"Well, thank you." She said as she stepped further into the office and perched herself on the corner of his desk, letting her legs glide against his. "Are you almost ready to go? I logged the evidence and gave samples to Jacqui to process. She's pretty backlogged so it'll take 'till tonight's shift to get the results anyways."

"Well let's go home then, shall we?" He said as he stood and offered her his hand to help her stand. Despite his new attitude, they weren't ready for complete outage of their relationship just yet, so they quickly released each other's hands and walked out.

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"Finally. Come on take me home with you." He said as he watched the couple emerging from the lab building and walking towards the car, laughing and joking.

As they got into the car, with the man driving this time, he turned on his own vehicle and prepared himself for the events to come.

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"Can I drive?" She asked hopeful.

"No." he replied in the same way he had earlier.

"Please!" She again begged.

"No. And don't even bother with the face, I'm not looking." He said with a large grin and hopelessly trying to avoid looking at her face.

"You're mean." She said simply, laughing slightly and getting into the passenger side.

"Yup I am." He retorted as he too got into the car.

As soon as they were both in and settled Grissom reached over for her hand.

"I vote that on our next day off together, we shut off our phones and go away, far, far away." He told her smiling uncontrollably.

She giggled at the thought.

"Yes. Yes. And Yes." She said and then leaned over to lay her head on his shoulder while they drove.

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Following them the entire drive home, the anticipation and thrill was really beginning to wear thin on his patience. Finally after turning the corner into a quiet neighborhood, the Denali in front of him pulled into a small driveway in front of a homely townhouse. He waited across the road a few houses down and watched as they exited the car and walked hand in hand to the front door, stopping to check the mail and unlock the door. Waiting a few moments after they were inside, he slowly pulled the car forward and exited, taking in the neighborhood. Lucky for him, they worked the night shift so when they came home, most of their neighbors were going in to work. The street was quiet, empty, in need of some chaos, he thought.

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"Want to watch a movie, eat some popcorn, have a little fun…" Sara asked slightly seductively as she walked through the door into the kitchen.

"Hmm…tempting." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck up and down from her collarbone to her ear as she unwrapped a bag of microwave popcorn.

"Hey. Stop that Mister. It's not time for your punishment yet. Now go pick out a movie."

Reluctantly he pulled away, kissing her cheek before leaving the room.

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About an hour into the movie, and they still were unaware of the audience they had watching them through the sliding glass doors behind them. He stood there, silent as possible, just watching, waiting; waiting for the opportunity to arise.

And there it was.

"I'll be right back, I need the bathroom." He said, untangling himself from her resting body.

"Okay. Want me to pause it?" She asked sitting up and reaching for the remote control.

"Honey, it's Monster's Inc. I think I'll survive if I miss a minute or two." He said with a smile as he walked down the hall.

Thus bringing the pout that was on her face, and the impending horror that was to begin.

Slowly and quietly he opened the slider door and stepped into the room, coming up behind Sara in the darkened room. Cautiously he placed his hands on her shoulders and began massaging the tender muscles.

"Mmm… Maybe it is time for your punishment." Sara gasped at the touch, thinking that the hands were those of her boyfriend and not of the intruder.

"No, I think it's time for yours." He said as he covered her mouth with his hand and placed a blade to her throat. She tried to yell, but the sound was only muffled by his hand and the as a result he dipped the knife further into her skin.

"Not a sound or I kill you and your lover. Understand?" His voice was so low, so cold and harsh is sent shivers down her spine.

"Hey Sara, do want me to make some more popcorn?" Grissom yelled down the hall as he walked back to the living room. When he got no answer, he called again. "Sara? Honey, did you hear…" His voice fading and trailing off when he set his sights on a man holding Sara at knifepoint. Every possible emotion that he could be feeling, he was feeling.

"Please, let her go. Please, just let her go. Take whatever you want, just don't hurt her." He said with his hands up and his eyes watering.

"Now, now. Mr. Grissom, is it? I'm glad you say that, because I promise, I will take what I want. But like I told, Sara, here make a noise and she dies."

Her heart was beating faster than humanly possible. Seeing the pain in Grissom's eyes was too much. She tried with everything in her to convey for him to just cooperate. Lucky for her they had been having conversations with their eyes for well over a decade. He read her eyes loud and clear.

"Okay, okay. Whatever you want." He pleaded, his eyes tearing up at the sight of fear in Sara's eyes.

Without warning the man hit Sara hard enough to knock her to the floor, seemingly unconscious. Grissom out of reflex tried to rush to her aid, but before he could the man pulled a gun on him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Not another step Mr. Grissom. Or you both die. Now let's go." He said motioning with the gun in the direction of the bedroom. Hesitantly Grissom followed his orders and moved towards the bedroom. "Don't worry about her, she's just taking a little nap, she'll be joining us in a few minutes." He added when they reached the bedroom and the man tied up Grissom on the floor with duct tape, purposely positioning him in the best location to see a full range of the bed. "Now, don't move Mr. Grissom, or she'll be the one to pay." He added as he placed a piece of tape over Grissom's mouth.

Once the man left the room he instantly knew what was going on, from just the one crime scene, he knew what was going to happen, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, not without risking hurting Sara more. He eyes filled with tears at the realization. He was going to sit here and watch while this man, this monster rapes his Sara.

A few moments later the man returned with a semi-conscious Sara in his arms. Dropping her on the bed he taped her mouth, and then rolled her onto her back, grabbed her hands and proceeded taping her wrists together.

Grissom couldn't control himself, he tried to wiggle free, to move, and finally yell. The noise caught the man's attention and he turned and smiled at Grissom. As if to taunt him, he turned her back and tied her ankles to the footboard, successfully spreading her legs, he ran his hand up and down the inside of Sara's thigh, provoking Grissom further to the edge.

He screamed at the man through his bound mouth, effectively stirring Sara into reality, but only just in time for her to witness the beating in which he was given as punishment. Now it was her turn to scream, the sound severely muffled by tape, but enough to make the attack on Grissom stop. The man could only smile.

"Well now that we're all here, the fun can really begin." He said with a sadistic laugh as he ran the knife blade lightly up and down Sara's legs and stomach. She tried to move, but it was no use. She tried to close her eyes to the sight, but it didn't matter she could still see it. So reluctantly, she turned her eyes to Grissom. He looked so scared and guilt-ridden. He had tried to close his eyes too, but quickly opened them. If she was being forced to go through this, he wasn't going to let her go through it alone. Her eyes were so full of fear it made his heart skip and sink into his chest. Her eyes held so much, love, fear, sorrow, guilt. It was as if looking at him she could pretend that she wasn't there, that she was somewhere else, somewhere happy, with just them.

Both of their attentions were drawn away from their refuge when Sara screamed and flinched in pain. The man had cut deeply into her leg with the knife while cutting her pants from her. She tried to breathe through the pain and focus again on Grissom. He looked as though he were about to explode, and just as her eyes were about to calm him; the man did the same thing to the other leg.

"NO!!" Was what he tried to yell as he attempted to move forward, all he wanted was to feel that man's life pass between his own two hands for hurting Sara.

His interruption bought Sara a few moments away from the man, but only to have to again watch as the man slit Grissom's legs, much like he did hers. His muted screams made her blood boil.

"We wouldn't want you to feel left out." The man said simply as he turned back to Sara.

Grissom eyed Sara and she simply shook her head at him, telling not to move again. That it was okay.

"Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted? Ah, yes. This is where I cut the rest of your clothes off and have my way with you while your lover boy here watches." His words were full of amusement as he cut her shirt and bra off, cutting up her stomach and chest in the process.

As painful as it was, she refused to scream again, if only to protect Grissom. He was already in rough shape from the first beating. His face was beginning to swell from where he had been hit and there was blood protruding through his white t-shirt and his jeans were soaked with blood from the cuts. She knew that no matter how much physical pain she was in and was going to face, the emotional pain that he must have from watching her was far greater. She just refused to think of the emotional half of her own suffering.

She felt exposed. Lying on THEIR bed, naked and being touched and fondled by another man against her will, while the only person she wanted touching her was being forced to watch. But then the unexpected happened. He removed the tape over her mouth, but sure that he had his gun firmly pointed at Grissom.

"You scream, he dies while you watch, and I still continue with you." He said simply, waiving the gun at Grissom.

Her eyes grew wider than she thought possible. She simply nodded her head at the man, seeing the hatred in his ice-cold eyes. She made a mental note to memorize every detail of his face to use against him later, should they survive. Grissom did the same. He already knew every line, every wrinkle, every freckle and every hair that was out of place.

Before she knew what was happening the man was removing his clothing. She had known this was coming but actually seeing it lying out struck a whole new fear. She turned her head back to Grissom, trying to comfort him and seek comfort. She gently opened her mouth and lipped three words to him.

'I Love You'

New tears stung both of their eyes and he nodded to her, unable to say them back. She knew. The bed dipped with the movement of the now naked man climbing on top of her, and she couldn't hold back the emotion any longer. The tears fell heavily down her cheeks as the man forced himself into her hard causing her pain enough to make her flinch and whimper and slam her eyes shut. Grissom tried everything he could to get her to focus on him, to focus on anything other than what that bastard was doing to her. He yelled, despite what she wanted, and kept yelling. The man in turn only thrust harder into her, punishing her for his actions. His grip on her body was so tight and painful, and he placed the knife to her throat, effectively stopping Grissom's noise.

"What's the matter Mr. Grissom, didn't your mother ever teach you to share your toys?" The man asked eerily as he smiled at him and then tried to kiss Sara.

Grissom screamed again, and as a result the man dug the knife further into her neck, producing blood. By this point she was crying uncontrollably.

"Uh, Uh, Uh, make another noise and your friends will be investigating her death."

He tried to kiss her again but she turned away, which led to him punching her hard across her jaw. She finally opened her eyes to see Grissom and held his gaze. She could see the pain and could only imagine the betrayal he must be feeling. Once again, she opened her mouth and lipped the words she needed to say.

'I'm sorry.'

He shook his head violently, knowing what she must be thinking. He didn't blame her and he knew that this was all against her will. He kept his eyes on hers; flinching every time she flinched from the pain the bastard was causing her.

"Is this how you like it?" He moaned heavily into her ear, but loud enough so the whole room could hear.

At first she kept quiet, not sure if she should answer. Grissom's anger was growing now, to a point that he didn't know it could go. He's raping her and asking if she likes it, how could anyone answer that.

But when he received no reply, he stopped his movements and looked down at her.

"I said is this how you like it Bitch!" He yelled as he hit her hard again on the face, the movement causing the knife to penetrate her skin again.

Again, she stayed silent, focusing her attention on Grissom. Seeing this, the man pointed the gun at Grissom.

"Answer me or I shoot him and he bleeds out all over your nice carpet."

"YES! Okay yes." She said through tears as a fit of hysterics hit her.

"Yes what?" he patronized her.

Looking in Grissom's eyes quickly she turned away.

"Yes I like it." She whispered.

"I'm sorry I don't think everyone heard."

"YES! YES I LIKE IT!" She yelled and then cried uncontrollably.

"Good! Take note Mr. Grissom. She likes it rough." He said with a smile as he ran the knife down her chest and over her breast. Leaving a trail of fresh blood in its path.

"How's it feel Mr. Grissom? Watching your girlfriend fucking me and liking it. Her own words. That's got to sting. Watching your girlfriend cheating on you." He said with a laugh.

Sara broke down. She was, she was cheating on him. She was only saying those things to keep Grissom safe. She didn't really mean any of it.

Watching her like this. Hearing her screams and the insistent chanting he was forcing her to say, of how she liked it, of how he has the biggest penis she had ever seen, of how she lived to serve him, of how she asked for it, of how she wanted him, would crave him, it was all too much. He was loosing control and he was loosing Sara.

Another hour went by like that, him telling her to say something, her refusing and him beating her, until finally he stopped beating her and began beating Grissom instead. They were both on the brink of unbearable pain, physically and falling from a cliff of emotions internally. Finally with much needed false praise from Sara he finished, releasing himself inside her. After degrading her further by licking her wounds, he stood and dressed. By this point Sara had closed her eyes and was looking away from both men in the room, still restrained and naked on the bed.

"Well, this has been fun. We'll have to do it again sometime. Pleasant dreams." The man said as he kissed Sara's cheek and walked out of the room.

Waiting a few moments to be sure he was gone, Grissom shuffled his restrained self as much as he could to get to her. Using the bed post to help maneuver the tape on his face, he was finally able to get a piece to stick to the wood so that he could turn his head and free his mouth from the tape.

When he, after much struggle, reached her side, she still wouldn't look at him or speak or move.

"…Sara…?" he asked, his voice low and filled with sorrow and concern and guilt.

His only response was her blinking, shedding a few tears down her cheeks in the process. He looked around frantically for something, anything. Then he saw it. The phone on the end table next to Sara's head. Using all the strength he had left in him, he knocked the phone to the ground using his face. His hands and feet still fastened tightly with the tape. After several attempts using his nose to dial the numbers, he finally got it right.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Discovery

**Chapter Three: Discovery**

"Brass." Jim answered.

Grissom was frozen; he didn't know what to say.

"Hello?" Jim asked after receiving no response.

"…J-Jim…We need…help…we've, we've been…she was attacked." He stuttered out, unable to keep his eyes from Sara. She looked so depressed, so lost, so defeated, so not Sara.

"Gil? What are you saying? Who's been attacked?" Jim asked, the alarm in his voice easily recognizable.

"Just hurry. And call Catherine." He responded with a long sigh as the tears flooded down his cheeks.

Sensing the emotion and turmoil in his voice, Brass knew that something was seriously wrong.

"I'm on my way." He said as he hung up the phone.

That was all that could be heard throughout the room was the buzzing tone of the open line in the phone. Neither spoke. Neither moved. They just stayed there in the silence until help would come.

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Brass didn't know what was happening exactly, but it didn't change anything. He ran faster than he knew how to his car placing the sirens and lights on as he headed full speed to Grissom's house. Opening his phone, he quickly dialed Catherine's number and while it was ringing, he radioed for an ambulance to meet him there.

"…W-willows." Came the groggy voice of Catherine. It was clear that she had been asleep.

"Catherine, it's Jim. I need you to meet me at Gil's house…Now!" he practically yelled at her.

That woke her right up.

"Jim? What? What's going on?" She asked, obviously confused.

"I don't really know much. I just got a call from Gil. He sounds really messed up, said that she was just attacked." He blurted out as he stepped further onto the accelerator.

"Who was attacked?" She asked as she pulled on some clothing and rushed out her door. Lucky for her Lindsey was at school.

"I don't know, he just said that he needed help and to call you."

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in five minutes."

"I'll meet you there."

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

As he pulled up to the house, he was confused. Everything looked in order. Nothing seemed wrong or out of place. Well, except for the fact that Sara's car was in the driveway and the mailbox now read:

G. Grissom

S. Sidle

But that only made him smile. He had figured that they were together but not that it was this serious. And then it dawned on him.

'She was attacked.'

Gil's words not haunted him. She was Sara. He prayed that it wasn't true, that he was wrong. He didn't even know what kind of attack.

'Oh, please be alive Sara, please be alive.' He thought.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of tires squealing around the street corner. It was Catherine driving like a woman on a mission. Not that that should have surprised him. Then the sirens quickly followed, the ambulance right on her tail.

Before she could even completely stop the car, she was jumping out and running to Brass, only she was stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Sara's car. Brass saw what she was looking at and rushed over to her.

"I know. We need to go in there." He said, trying to keep her mind focused.

She nodded her head and drew her gun, he followed suit and they proceeded to the front door. Waiting a few moments to listen and hearing nothing, Brass tried the door, it was unlocked, so he quickly opened the door and jumped inside, waving his gun in all directions incase the perp was still in the house. Seeing nothing, he motioned for Catherine to follow close behind him.

"Clear." He said as they walked through all the room, except the bedroom.

"Gil?" Catherine shouted as they approached the closed door of the bedroom. "Gil. It's Catherine and Jim. Are you okay?"

"We need an ambulance, she's hurt bad." Came the soft sound of Grissom's defeated voice.

Jim quickly opened the door, gun raised and both he and Catherine were shocked into silence at the sight.

"Get the medics in here now!" Catherine ordered as she ran to Sara's aid.

She had yet to say anything or move from her position. It was frightening to Grissom. Catherine, using her pocketknife, carefully cut the binding on her ankles and rolled her onto her side to cut the tape on her wrists. She was still naked, but Catherine helped her to sit up. Jim quickly cut Grissom free after calling in the EMT's and left the room. He knew that Sara didn't need anyone seeing her so exposed like this. As soon as the tape was cut, Grissom ran to Sara's side. But as he went to touch her hand, she flinched and drew her hand back.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled. Her gaze hard and cold, but not looking at anyone or anything really.

Catherine, for the first time, didn't know what to do. Walking into their house, which she had too figured out by the mailbox, she was stunned. She had no idea that they were involved and by the looks of things, for some time now. She knew Sara and she knew Grissom but she was in a whole different playing field with Grissom and Sara, one that she didn't know the rules to.

Thankfully, before anything else could happen after Sara's first spoken words since the attack, the EMT's arrived and took Sara on a stretcher into the ambulance. Grissom elected to ride with her, refusing medical treatment for himself until he knew she was going to be okay, physical anyways. She retreated back into her shell, blocking out everyone and anyone. Thankfully there had been two EMT's, one of which was female. She understood the situation and made the male of the two drive while she worked on Sara. Grissom just sat there at her side, feeling just as lost, he didn't know how to help her, didn't know if he even could, if she would let him.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"Call in the entire graveyard team. I need them to process here so that we can get to the hospital and I can process Sara while you get Gil to get some treatment." Catherine said to Jim as they waited outside for officers to respond to the scene, to mark it off so that they could process.

"I'll call Nick and Greg, you want to call Warrick?" He asked her back.

"I'm on it." She replied, opening her cell phone to dial.

"Oh and Jim?" She interrupted him trying to dial Nick's number.

"Yeah."

"Let's keep this low profile. Don't even tell them what happened and with whom just yet, I'll explain it all when they get here. I don't want this getting out. They've been through enough, the least we can do is buy them a few hours."

"Sure thing Cath."

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

About ten minutes after they placed the calls to the CSI's, the scene was being taped off and Nick, Warrick and Greg were pulling around the corner. They had all been at the diner across from the lab when they got the call about an attack on one of their own and were given the address. They all climbed into Nick's truck and drove as fast as they could to the house.

"Isn't that…" Greg started when he noticed the house.

"It is. That's Grissom's house." Warrick finished for him, noticing the mob of police officials barricading the premises.

Before anyone could speak further, they had all jumped from the car, grabbing their kits; they ran towards Catherine and Brass.

"Cath, what's going on? Is Grissom okay?" Nick asked full of concern and worry.

"He'll be okay. Him and Sara were taken to the hospital." Before she could finish they all started talking a once.

"Hey! Guys, stop! Now listen."

"Sorry Cath." Warrick said, also clearly confused and scared.

"You need to know a few things, that stays here understood? I mean it, if I find out that it has gone further than this conversation your going to have some serious problems on your hands." She said with a very stern voice, looking at each of them.

"Catherine, what is it?" Greg asked, he face paled in fear.

"It turns out that Grissom and Sara have been seeing each other for a while now. This is now their home, not just Grissom's. Whatever you may think of that, I don't care. Deal with it later. The Couple Rapist attacked Sara and Gil here today. Sara was raped and beaten and Grissom was beaten and forced to watch, they are at the hospital now, which is where Jim and I need to be. I need you guys to process the bedroom, the rest of the house, the perimeter. Everything. I mean your best work here guys. I know this is going to be hard, and believe me, it was hard being in there with them, but we need to do this. For them. They deserve that."

"Is Sara okay?" Nick asked, unshed tears clouding his eyes, a similar resemblance to everyone else.

"I don't know Nicky. I don't know. She wouldn't even let Grissom touch her. I'm going to go collect a rape kit from her and try and get her to talk to me, I'll process Grissom while I'm there. Just do everything you can guys. No one fucks with our team and gets away with it." She answered, her angry showing through her professional front.

"Alright guys, let's do this. Griss and Sara deserve the best CSI's and that's going to be us." Warrick said with a renowned energy focused on helping Sara and Grissom.

"Thanks guys. Just remember, keep this all quiet. Call me if you get anything. I'll call as soon as I know anything from the hospital."

"Send our love." Greg added as Catherine started walking away. She merely smiled at him and nodded over her shoulder as she continued to the car with Brass.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Guilt

**Chapter Four: Guilt**

Meanwhile, at the hospital, things were far from encouraging. Sara was taken away from Grissom to have a rape kit performed. The nurse seemed nice enough but he still dreaded being away from her. Sara still has yet to speak to anyone, even when it came to asking about her medical history, she wouldn't talk at all, wouldn't look at anyone, and wouldn't let any males touch her. But the nurses and doctors all understood. After all, they see this, regrettably, almost daily. But it was not that easy to accept for Grissom. He was there. They may see the after almost daily, but he saw it. He was with her; he knew exactly what that bastard did to her.

After about forty-five minutes, Grissom had worn a hole in the floor from pacing back and forth waiting to see Sara. He could only imagine what she was going through. He knew the horrors of a sexual assault exam; he dealt with the victims regularly. He knew that the victims most often felt further violation after. He wanted nothing more than to take all her pain away, to hold her in his arms again and have her feel safe.

After about the third time being told by the nurse to have a seat, Catherine and Brass came into the room, silently observing him for a moment before venturing into the waiting room.

"Gil?" Catherine called, successfully stopping his pacing, for which the nurse was grateful.

"They won't let me see her." He stated, very on edge.

"She's having her exam?" She asked, placing a hand on his upper arm.

"Yeah." He said, looking nervously all around the room, feeling the urge to start pacing again.

"Okay, Gil, why don't we go into a room and process you. We stopped at the lab and I grabbed your spare clothes so that I can take yours. And hopefully by the time we're done, Sara will be ready. Okay?"

"I guess, yeah, okay. Cath – she's still not talking. I'm so worried. The things that he did…" His voice trailed off as his tears overcame him.

Pulling him into a tight hug she whispered softly into his ear,

"Give her time Gil. It's going to take time. But she needs you right now. Which means we need to get you together before we can help her okay?"

Swallowing his tears he nodded into her shoulder. Only breaking away when he heard his name.

"Mr. Grissom?" The man in the white doctoral coat called out to the room.

"Yes, yes. That's me. Is she alright? Is Sara alright?" He asked, wiping at his tears.

"Miss. Sidle has been taken in for minor surgery. The nurse started an exam but found the attacker had torn through her vaginal wall during the rape resulting in an extensive amount of blood loss. The surgery is very minor, just to stitch up the tear. Other than that, physically, she'll be alright. She sustained several deep lacerations to her legs, abdomen and chest. She's already been stitched up for those as well as the cuts on her forehead for the punches. A broken rib on her left side. She was pretty roughed up, but she should be fine, providing that she gets lots of rest and stays off her feet for a few days. Follow up with her primary. She's lucky considering, it could have been a lot worse. She should be out of surgery within the hour."

"Doctor, could you please have Mr. Grissom here treated for his own wounds while Catherine here processes him. He's starting to drip blood onto your floor." Brass said to the doctor as soon as he finished.

"I'll do it personally. I'll have the nurse track down an open exam room." He said as he turned to the nurse.

"Uh, doctor, what about the sexual assault kit on Sara?" Catherine asked before he could leave.

"The nurse has it now. They were able to start the kit but were unable to finish it due to the blood loss. From what I was told, she was able to collect fingernail scrapings, pubic combings, and swabbed her wounds and lacerations. But she was unable to do the internal swabbing. The surgeon was informed and is going to try their hardest to collect a sample during the procedure."

"Thank you." She said, trying to keep Grissom calm, knowing that he really didn't want to be hearing any of this.

"Okay, come on Gil, let's get you checked out." Brass said leading him to the doorway of the room.

"You'll let me know as soon as I can see her." Grissom more demanded than asked.

"Of course."

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"Griss and Sara, man, I can't believe it." Warrick stated as he, Nick and Greg searched the bedroom with a fine toothed comb.

"I know what you mean. But what even stranger is that I think this has been going on for about two years." Nick added, looking at a picture frame sitting on a bookshelf in the corner.

"What do you mean? How could you know that?" Greg asked, turning from his position on the floor by where Grissom had been, to join in the conversation.

"Well, look at this picture of them. They look like they're at some amusement park maybe, but check out the date. June of twenty0five. That was just a month after my kidnapping. And they are definitely not just 'colleagues' or even friends in this picture." Nick said as he passed them the photo. He was right. The photo depicted the two at an amusement park in front of some rollercoaster, and they were very…close. Grissom is standing behind Sara with his arms wrapped around her torso and his chin resting on her shoulder. She's leaning back into him with her head resting against his and her arms wrapped up in his. And they're both, well, smiling. Like real, true, happy, smiles. Something that was a little weird for them to see.

"I hate to say this, but wow, we suck." Greg said very plainly.

"What?" Both Nick and Warrick asked in unison.

"Well come on, we're trained investigators. We're trained to pick up on the smallest details, to be able to read people, to see through lies and diversions. And yet somehow, none of us were able to see that two people we work with everyday were have some secret love affair. No, not even an affair. They're living together for Christ's sake. Some CSI's we are. Hell, some friends we are. We never, in two years, noticed that Sara doesn't live at Sara's anymore. I feel like I've been a horrible friend to her, to both of them." Greg replied, a sound of guilt and remorse in his voice.

"I know what you mean. Sara's like my sister and I didn't even notice. Although, I did question her about having a boyfriend. I mean, Miss. Workaholic Sara Sidle, coming in on time and leaving at shifts end, she's lucky to use a few hours of OT a month, where as before she would get sentenced to the lab for using too much. Same with Grissom. I was talking to Catherine right before he left on his sabbatical about how he was becoming less absorbed in work, he lost a little weight, shaved his beard. Now that I put all the pieces together it all makes sense. You're right Greg, I'm disappointed in myself for not figuring it out."

"You know, when Grissom went on that sabbatical, Sara went back to her former workaholic self. Then was back to minimum working time when he came back. God, how could we be so dumb? They were doing all of this right under our noses and we didn't even see it. But you know what? Good for them. If any one deserves happiness it's those two."

"Yeah, what do you say that once this is over with and Sara has had some time to recover, we throw them a party, a housewarming party if you will? To let them know that we care and that we're here for them and happy for them." Nick suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Greg said, accompanied with a nod from Warrick.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

An hour and a half after Grissom had gone for his examination, he was back to pacing a hole in the floor. He had been stripped, swabbed, stitched and bandaged. His cuts just as deep as Sara's, just not as many. But he did however have three broken ribs and a mild concussion. The doctor had tried to convince him to stay overnight for observation, but he was having nothing of it. Catherine promised the doctor that she would take care of him, and he left it at that.

Now he was waiting to hear anything about Sara. Getting more anxious and impatient by the second.

Brass had gone back to the station to help out in the investigation there. Catherine had called the boys to fill them in, with the small details anyways, and checked their progress. She liked their thought of throwing Gil and Sara a party, given that they're up for it. Despite the situation at hand, they were all happy that Gil finally got his head out the microscope and let Sara in. And after spending that last few hours with them, Catherine definitely knew that they loved each other as much as humanly possible.

Thankfully, before he could make another lap around the waiting room, the doctor came through the double doors.

"Thank God, he was making me dizzy." Catherine muttered to herself upon seeing the doctor.

"Is she okay? Can I see her? Has she spoken to anyone yet? Is she in pain? Does she need anything?..." He rambled on all in one breath.

"Wow. Slow down. She's doing just fine, the surgery went well. Yes you can see her. She's been moved to her own room. No. She has yet to speak to anyone, we sent a counselor in but she won't talk to her. I was hoping that she might speak to you. She shouldn't be in any pain. We have her on some pain medication. And I think that the most important thing she needs right now is familiarity and comfort. She's been through a lot, and unfortunately, she can't really start healing emotionally until she talks about what happened to her, or talks at all for that matter."

"I want to see her." Grissom said flatly.

"Of course. Follow me. Oh, and Ms. Willows, the nurse's station has the kit for you, the surgeon was able to get a semen sample during the procedure."

"Thank you." She said as she and Grissom followed him down the long corridor to Sara's room.

Catherine stopped off at the nurse's station and the doctor pointed out Sara's room before turning away to do what doctors do. Catherine watched for a moment as Grissom stood in front of her door, clearly trying to decide whether to go in or not. Slowly, she crossed the hall and placed a gentle hand on his back.

"What if she doesn't want to see me?" He asked with a shaky voice.

"What? How could you think that? Sara loves you Gil. No matter what." She said turning him around to face her.

"Cath, I was there, I watched it all. I couldn't protect her in our own home. I promised her that I would never let anyone hurt her and I just sat there and watched as he destroyed her. I broke my promise."

"Gil, no. This is not your fault. This is NOT your fault. And it's not her fault. Of all people Gil, you should know, that sometimes bad things just happen, happen to good people who don't deserve it. But in no way was any of this your fault. And she knows that. She's scared right now. She's lost her control and she's confused and angry, but she doesn't blame you. She loves you. I can tell by one look in your eyes that you would do everything in your power to take her pain away from her, to change things, and I know that she can see that too. She loves you. For whatever reason she found, she found it and she loves you. And I know that you love her. This is not going to be easy. You both have a lot to deal with and face in the near future but she needs you just as much as you need her, and you'll get through this. You two are two of the strongest people I know, and together, well, let the world beware. You just need to stick together."

"Thanks Cath. You know she told me before we got called in last night that she thought something bad was going to happen. That she had a bad feeling. I thought she was just being paranoid. I should have believed her. Sorry, I don't mean to fall apart on you."

"Hey come on, you're my best friend, and I love you, and I love Sara. I'm here for you guys, whatever you need."

"Thanks. That means a lot." He said, wiping away the tears again.

"Now, go get in there. Be there for her. I'm going to take this back to the lab, but you call me if either of you need anything. I'll stop by later with some clothes for Sara. Your house is still a crime scene, so I can't get her clothes, but I'll grab her some of mine for now."

"Thanks. I know she hates hospital gowns." He said with the tiniest hint of a smile. The first one all day.

"Take care, Gil." She said as she kissed his cheek quickly before walking away.

He sat there for a moment reflecting on Catherine's words. Gathering his courage he stood and placed his hand on the door knob.

'She needs me.' He thought, turning the handle and pushing the door open. His stomach and heart dropped at the sight of her. She was lying on the hospital bed with her hands resting on her stomach and her head turned away from him, staring aimlessly out the window. The bandages were slicking out of the top of the gown leading up her neck where the knife had penetrated the skin there. Her face was bruised and cut up, small bandages on her forehead and temple and butterfly stitches holding together a cut on her cheek bone. The worst part is that he could remember every cut, every bruise, every pain, because he saw them all happen. Slowly and hesitantly he moved over to the bed, taking a seat by her side.

Sensing his presence, she pulled the covers up further, trying to hide her battered body from him. She didn't want him to see her like this, not after everything else he's seen. This is all her fault, she kept thinking.

"I'm sorry Sara. I'm so sorry. I broke my promise." He said quietly and shakily as he tried to keep his tears at bay.

His confession and apology got her to turn her head and look in his direction. Not directly at him, but in his direction.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't fight, I should have fought, I was just afraid that he would hurt you. This is all my fault Griss. I understand if you never want to see me again. I do, really." She said as she, for the first time since the attack, let her emotions take over and she sobbed hysterically.

"Sara. No! No! Oh, honey," Hesitantly he leaned forward and gently placed his hand on top of hers. She flinched and he quickly removed it, but stayed close. "Sara, this was not your fault, none of it. Please, please don't blame yourself. He took something from you, something that he had no right to take, and something that no one has the right to take. I know that you didn't do anything voluntarily honey. Please, don't ever think that I don't want you in my life every minute of every day, because that's all I want. I love you Sara, forever, through the good and the bad." He said pleadingly.

"I thought he was you. I should have known. I should have known that something wasn't right. It is my fault." Again the tears thrashing down her face.

"No! Sara, No! You couldn't have known. This is my fault, not yours. I should have protected you. I made a promise that I would never let anyone hurt you again and I…" His voice trailed off as his sobs caught up with him.

Despite her inner turmoil and not wanting him to touch her now that she's no longer good for him, she couldn't help herself from slowly reaching over and gently taking his hand. His sobs instantly seized at the contact.

"I don't want to stay here." She said after about a half hour of just sitting there in silence, staring at each other.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do." He said as he loosened his grip on her hand and was about to stand up, but was stopped by her squeezing his hand and tears stinging in her eyes.

"Please, don't leave me." She said as if he were leaving for good.

"It's okay sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. How about I just call a nurse in here and see if she can track down your doctor, okay?" He asked, trying to reassure her.

She just nodded and closed her eyes. Without releasing her hand he pushed the call button for the nurse and waited.

"Why don't you try and get some rest, I'll talk to your doctor and I'll be right by your side."

She could only give a small smile. It wasn't a true smile, but it was something. She closed her eyes several times, opening them right after just to make sure he was still there.

"It's okay Sweetie, I'll be right here. I promise. I'm not going anywhere." He said, rubbing her hand lightly with his thumb.

Eventually she was able to close her eyes and rest. Exhaustion taking her over, she fell asleep into a restless, terror filled sleep.

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After watching her for a couple of hours, tossing and turning, thrashing in the bed, he was getting concerned. He wanted to wake her, knowing what she was seeing in her dreams, but the doctor advised him against it. Told him that she needs to work through things, and dreams are a way of doing that. That she'll wake herself up when she's ready. So he settled for just holding her hand and wiping a damp cloth across her face to clear the sweat away.

"Ahhhhhh!" She screamed as she bolted upright on the bed, waking from her nightmare.

"Hey, hey, Sara, it's okay. You're okay. You're safe. I'm here honey, I'm here." He said, moving to sit next to her on the bed.

He was surprised when she grabbed onto him pulling him as close as possible, wrapping herself in his arms as she cried.

"I was so scared. I was so scared that I'd lose you. That he'd hurt you. I couldn't let that happen. I love you too much. I'm so sorry." She cried.

"Hey. Hey, Sara. Look at me. Look, I'm okay. I'm here. We're here and we're going to get through this."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Coming Home

**Chapter Five: Coming Home**

The next few days were hard on everyone. The boys rushed to clear the scene so that Grissom could take Sara home when the doctor released her the night of her first nightmare. They never went home for longer than an hour, knowing that Sara and Grissom needed closure, needed this pervert behind bars. But three days later, and they still had no suspects. There was plenty of evidence. They were able to link Sara's attack to the other two attacks from the night before and the three attacks that have followed since, but they still didn't know who it was. He wasn't in the system.

Catherine came by their house before they were released from the hospital, changing the sheets on the bed, cleaning up as best as possible and restocking the fridge. Trying at least to make it feel more like home and less like the place where all of Sara's control and power had been taken from her in the worst way. For the most part the place looked back to normal. But no matter how much bleach you use; you can still see the blood. She made sure that all of the windows and doors were locked, and Brass came by to help her put new locks on everything, just added security while the perp was still out there. The team even pitched in to pay to have an alarm system put in. Anything and everything they could do to help them, they would.

After her nightmare at the hospital, Sara was deathly afraid of going to sleep. The doctor prescribed her a sleep aid and a mild sedative to keep her calm. Grissom was prescribed the same but refused to take them. If Sara needed him, he didn't want to be hopped up on drugs. In spite of her touching him at the hospital, as soon as they left, she was back to being in her bubble. Not talking much, flinching when touched, and showing no emotion. It was as if she was a zombie, just staring out into the world, but not participating in it at all. She had wanted to come home, if only to face her demons. Grissom tried talking her out of it, but she was Sara after all. She was terrified of the bedroom and of the sliding glass doors in the living room. Sensing her tension, Grissom asked Nick for some help and they boarded up the door so that she couldn't see out it and rearranged the furniture so that the couch was facing the door. As for the bedroom, Grissom too was terrified of being in there. That was a step that neither of them were ready for. So they just kept the door shut. Luckily they have a spare bedroom and bathroom. Grissom only entered into the bedroom once to gather their clothing to put in the other room, but that one trip let in so many flashbacks that when he left the room he was shaking and sobbing.

Two days after returning home, Sara was allowed, finally, to shower. She had had to wait due to the stitches and the surgery, but now she was allowed to. Something that everyone was grateful for. They all could only imagine how difficult it must have been for her to be walking around for three days with the remains of that man still all over her. They were relived and hopeful that this would help her somehow.

"You can take your shower today." Grissom told her, in the cautious, concerned voice he had been using since they arrived home.

"Yeah." She said simply. Sitting on the end of the sofa and staring at the wall.

"I could draw you a bubble bath if you'd like." He tried. He had been trying anything and everything to make her feel safer and loved by him; his guilt was really wearing on him. He hadn't been sleeping; he tried, but couldn't get the images out of his head. He had been taking the couch so that she didn't have to be next to him, something that he was unsure of whether she wanted or not. She would have him leave the bedroom door open and the hall light on and if he strayed to far from her, or needed to leave for something, she would breakdown, begging him not to leave her alone. He was at a loss; he didn't know what to do.

"Thanks." Again, staring off at the wall.

"Would you like me to call Catherine to come and help you?" He asked. He knew that the bandages and the sore muscles would make it hard for her to bath by herself.

"Okay."

"Okay. Can I get you anything for now, while we wait for her? Something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry." That had been her answer every time he or anyone else asked. She hadn't eaten since the attack. Hadn't slept without drugs or nightmares. He was worried.

"Okay. Well if you change your mind let me know." He said before walking to the kitchen to call Catherine.

Watching her from the kitchen he dialed in the all too familiar numbers.

"Willows." Catherine said from the other end.

"Hey Cath, it's me."

"Hey, how are you doing?" Her voice laced with concern.

"I don't know. I know you have already done so much but I'm calling for a favor."

"Of course, anything."

"Sara is able to bath now. I know that she doesn't want me helping her. But she couldn't do it herself…"

"I'll be over in half and hour." She interrupted.

"Thanks Catherine."

"No problem. I'll see you in a few."

"Bye."

"Bye."

And so for the next half hour, he stood there, watching her from the kitchen. She looked so helpless. Lost in her own world of horrors.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Reassurance

**Chapter Six: Reassurance**

Just as promised, Catherine arrived in a half hour. Bearing bath bubbles and salts and a new bath sponge. She was worried about Sara and Gil. Gil was too worried about Sara to work through his own emotions and Sara was too afraid of talking about to work out her own issues. It's going to kill them both if they don't figure something out. But, no matter what, she would do everything she could to help them.

Knocking on the door, she waited for Gil to answer.

The knock startled Sara. Any sound that she wasn't making seemed to make her jump.

"It's okay Honey, that should be Catherine." He said, but seeing her worried eyes growing wider the closer he got to the front door, he looked through the peephole. "Yup, just Catherine." He said with a small smile to reassure her.

The door opened and Catherine was astounded by Grissom's appearance. To be blunt, he looked like hell. She hadn't seen him since the first day the came home. She had talked to him, but that was all. The bruises on his body were beginning to change color on that jaundice yellow and green and he looked as if he hadn't slept in a week. It's only been three day but, considering the situation, it might as well have been a week.

"Hey, Gil." Catherine said with a sympathetic smile, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey Cath, thanks for coming." He said releasing her from the hug.

"How is she?" She asked quietly peaking over his shoulder to see Sara on the sofa, staring at nothing.

Also looking back her he sighed and answered,

"I wish I knew. She won't eat. She only sleeps when she takes the pills from the doctor. She spends the whole day sitting on the couch just staring at that one spot. I think that she thinks that had she been staring at that spot then that she would have seen him and would have been able to prevent it. I just don't know how to help her." He said, defeated.

"I'll see if I can get her to talk to me. I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a shot. It's going to take time." She said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm.

Walking into the house, Grissom closed the door, again striking Sara's attention. She looked at him again with those same wide eyes and he turned back and locked the door and set the alarm. Only once she saw it did she turn back to that same spot in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey Sar." Catherine said as she walked over to sit beside her of the sofa.

"Hi." She said somberly.

"I brought you bath stuff. I figured that you'd want to have the best bath humanly possible." Catherine pointed out with a small smile.

"Thanks."

Catherine could now see why Grissom was at such a loss. Sara, strong Sara, always has a comment for everything Sara, was barely audible and so gravely. It was, well, terrifying.

"What do you say we got get you cleaned up?" She asked placing a gentle hand on Sara's. She flinched, but didn't pull away. It was only with men that she felt entirely uncomfortable.

"Sure." She said simply, getting up.

"I'll be right out here if you need me." Grissom said after returning from the bathroom and filling the tub and she stopped in front of him with pleading eyes. "I promise."

She let a small reassured smile rest on her lips for a moment before leading Catherine to the bathroom. Once inside, Catherine went to close the door, but was stopped by Sara's hand grasping her arm.

"No, please." She begged with tears clouding her eyes.

"Okay. It's okay. We can leave it open. It's okay Sara." Catherine said trying to calm her down.

"I'm sorry. I just want to be able to hear him." She said through tears.

"Gil?" Catherine asked, wanting to get Sara talking about her attack.

"No." She said barely a whisper.

"Oh god Sara, honey. He's not coming back. I promise." She said kneeling in front of her.

"You don't know that. He's still out there. He said that 'we should do this again.' What if he comes back?" She asked sobbing.

"Is that what you were doing in the living room?" Catherine asked as she helped Sara off with her socks.

She simply nodded.

"You were making sure you'd know if he came back." She stated. Now understanding a lot. And realizing that if they don't catch the guy that Sara would never be able to move on.

When Catherine helped her take off her oversized t-shirt she was taken back by the amount of gauze bandages covering her torso. She regretted staring and the audible gasp that she made when she saw Sara start shaking. She had seen all the wounds up close and personal when she untied her from the bed, but there had been so much blood that she couldn't really see the individual wounds.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to stare. Come on, let's get these bandages off." Catherine said as she started to pull on a piece of medical tape. "I'll try my best to be gentle."

Within ten minutes they were able to get all the bandages off of her torso, arms and head. She felt exposed again, but Catherine could sense it. She handed her a towel to wrap around her lightly while she helped her with her sweatpants and started with the gauze all the way down her legs.

"Don't worry, it's just me." She said, seeing Sara's apprehension when she was done with the bandages and ready for the tub. "I can't get Gil if you'd like." She offered.

"No!" Sara yelped through tears.

"You don't want him to see you like this do you?" Catherine asked. She knew that Sara needed to voice her feelings and if meant her pushing a little, well, she was Catherine, she had no problem with that.

"I'm not good enough for him anymore. If he saw me he wouldn't want me anymore." She stuttered out.

Catherine's eyes were now also stinging with tears and unaware to the girls in the bathroom, Grissom was sitting outside the bathroom door and had been listening. His eyes were now watering profusely.

"Sara. No. Gil doesn't care about some bruises and cuts; he cares about you that's all. He wants you forever no matter what." Catherine appealed to her.

"He won't…I.I…slept with anther man in front of him. He watched. He doesn't want me anymore." She retorted in a shaky sob as she sat down into the tub. The water and soap stinging her wounds.

"Sara. No. What that man did to you is unforgivable. He forced you. Gil knows that. He wants you. He wants you in everyway possible. He loves you." She said as she began rubbing Sara's skin lightly with the soapy bath sponge.

"He shouldn't. I'm not worth it anymore." She said in a panic.

"Oh, Sara. You are."

"I told him that I liked it. Griss heard it. He thinks that I liked it. But I didn't. I swear I didn't. Catherine, I swear. I only said it because he'd hurt Griss if I didn't. I swear…"

"Hey, hey, Sara. Hey, look at me!" Catherine interrupted her rambling with a stern voice.

Hesitantly, Sara looked up to the woman.

"Sara, honey. We know. We all know. Gil knows. Trust me, Gil does not hold you responsible for that man did and made you do. He's blaming himself for this. He feels that he should have been able to protect you. He doesn't blame you. He doesn't think that you wanted it. He knows how scared you were, how scared you are."

"I'm afraid that I'm going to lose him. I feel so stupid. He can't even leave the room without me being afraid that he won't come back. And I know that it'll be all my fault."

Grissom sat outside the door, crying as he listened to her for the first time, really explain what's going on in her mind. And it broke his heart.

For the next hour, Sara opened up to Catherine, detailing the attack for her, letting her tears and fears run free. After the water had begun to shrivel Sara's skin and the temperature dropped, Catherine helped her out of the tub and wrapped her up in a towel, while she blow-dried her hair for her.

"I'm just going to call Gil in real quick so that he can get you some clothes okay?" Catherine asked as she brushed out Sara's brown locks.

"Okay." She said, with much more ease than she had had in the last few days.

"Hey Gil?" Catherine yelled out the door. Startled by the fact that he was right there next to the door. "Hi."

"Hi, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He said, straightening himself out.

"It's okay. Could you get some clothes for Sara, while I redress her wounds?" She said, but before he could leave, Sara's voice stopped him.

"Griss?"

"Yeah?" He said looking in on the woman that he still found to be the most beautiful person in the world.

"I think I'm hungry now." She said with a small smile as her stomach growled.

He couldn't help but smile back as he stepped into the bathroom and kneeled in front of her, tears of joy in his eyes, knowing that a weight had been lifted from her shoulders by talking to Catherine.

"Anything you want baby. You name it." He said, as he cautiously went to place his hand on hers, his eyes seeking her permission.

He received his permission when she smiled with love in her eyes at him and inched her hand forward. It was a small step but it was a lot for them.

"Veggie lasagna?" She asked hopeful, making both Grissom and Catherine smile.

"Of course. I'll get you some clothes while Catherine helps you with your bandages and then start some lunch." He said as he stood up, tempted to kiss her head, but refraining, not sure if she was ready for that yet.

"The ointment from the doctor is in the medicine cabinet. He said to put it on in a thin layer over the lacerations before bandaging them with the gauze." Grissom told Catherine as he stepped back into the hall.

"Sure thing." She said as she stepped back into the room with Sara.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

Clean and dressed and relieved from talking to Catherine, Sara was feeling much better. A small step in the right direction. Grissom cooked with Catherine's help, and Sara sat on the sofa, only this time not staring aimlessly at a potential attack, but rather at the television, watching some movie with Robin Williams.

"She seems a lot calmer now." Grissom pointed out quietly, watching her from the kitchen.

"I think it did her a lot of good to get some things off her chest." Catherine replied back as she chopped some zucchini.

"I just can't believe that she really thinks I don't want her, that she thinks I blame her. That scares me. How do I prove to her that she's wrong?" he asked, his emotions catching in her throat.

"I don't know. I think she has to believe it first. She's been through a lot. You both have. I think once she realizes that there's nothing she could have done and accepts that, believes that it wasn't her fault, then she'll be able to really start moving on, recovering. Just take it slow with her. I think the most important part is just keeping her talking. Not letting her shut down."

"Yeah, you're right. As always. I just wish she didn't have to go through this. I think it's stirring up old emotions and feelings from her past." Grissom said, realizing right after that he just let slip pieces of her past.

"What do you mean? What happened? Is this why you were talking about no one hurting her again?" She asked, he only stared at the fragile being on the sofa. "Gil, What's going on?"

"I don't know if it's my place to say anything." He said honestly.

"Gil, you can tell me. It won't go any further than this room. But if there is something else, something that is impeding her from moving past all this, you need to tell me, maybe I can help." Catherine said in a soft, encouraging tone.

"No further than you and me Cath. I mean it. Not even to her." He said very firmly.

"Of course Gil. You can trust me." She said, placing her hand on his arm trying to get him to look her in the eye.

"I know. It's just, I don't know. I think that she's remembering her childhood. No one knows anything about her family, and it needs to stay that way."

"What do you mean her childhood? Gil, was she…" She trailed off looking over to Sara watching television.

"Yes. Her father." He said with disgust.

"Oh my God. I had no idea. God, poor Sara. So what happened? I mean to her father? I know she doesn't really ever talk about her family."

"He had abused Sara, her mother and brother for years, but her mother didn't know about him and Sara. She walked in one night to find him raping her and she killed him. She's in prison last Sara heard and her and her brother were split up and put into foster care. She's never seen him since. She tried finding him last year, but he ended up being another kid lost in the system." He said grimly, knowing how much her past weighs on her as it was, never mind drawing out the worst of it.

"Oh my god. That's why abuse cases hit her so hard?" She asked.

"Yeah. She had been doing a lot better. She has been working through the last few years and had come to a point of moving on, but now, I'm afraid that everything she's worked so hard for is going to come crashing down."

"I don't blame you. How did you find out?" She asked as they continued to work on the lasagna.

"The abuse I found out about a few years ago. Remember when you and Sara got into that fight at the lab and Ecklie tried to fire her during that abuse case?"

"Oh yeah, wow that seems like so long ago. That was the case where we found the bodies in the tar right?"

"Yeah. Well I went to her apartment and demanded an explanation. She broke down. I had never seen her like that and she told me about the beatings and about her mother. I didn't find out about what her father did her until later."

"What do you mean?"

"We got into an argument over something really stupid and lunged towards her. I wasn't going to do anything, to this day I still don't know why I did, but it forced her into a flashback…she thought I was him. She thought she was a little girl again and that I was her father. She kept telling me 'No.' that she would do anything, that she was sorry just please don't do that. I had no idea what was going on until I went to touch her, to reassure her that I wasn't going to touch her and she jumped back begging me not to touch her. It was one of the worst moments of my life realizing that someone had hurt her that way, let alone her father. When she flashed back to reality she was confused. She couldn't remember anything had happened. From there we talked and she explained it all. Kept telling me how sorry she was. That she was afraid of telling me, because she thought that I wouldn't want her if she were damaged. It was really hard for her to be around me after that. But we worked through it. She started seeing a councilor and we finally were happy together again. She trusted me again. She worked really hard to move past all of that, and I'm just so scared that she'll lose all of that."

"Wow. That had to be hard. I can't believe that she went through all of that and remained so strong. I sure as wouldn't have."

"She's not as strong as everyone thinks. She puts up a front. She sees vulnerability as a weakness."

"That makes sense. Well, we'll figure out a way to help her through this. We'll get Sara back."

Grissom just smiled and placed the lasagna in the oven.

"Yeah, we will. We have to." He ended, as he and Catherine walked out into the living room to join Sara.

"Hey honey." Grissom said, alerting her to his presence so that she wouldn't be startled if she hadn't heard him walk in.

"Hey." She said as she looked up at him with a half smile.

"I hope you're hungry cause well, Catherine put a LOT in the lasagna. It should be very filling." He joked, making her smile and look over to Catherine who had a mock guilty smile.

"Sorry. I've never made a veggie lasagna before. It was a learning experience." She said in a playful tone, lightening the tension in the room.

"I'm sure it'll be great Cath. And yes, I am very hungry. I actually can't really remember the last time I ate." Sara said honestly, looking to Grissom for the answer.

"It's been a while. But I'm glad you're eating now." He said with a grin. One that could make her heart melt.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

Halfway through their meal, Catherine's cell phone started screaming a very annoying tone. Pulling it from her pocket she looked at the caller ID, Brass.

"It's Brass, I'll be right back." She said as she got up from the table and headed down the hall.

"Willows."

"Catherine, it's Jim."

"Yeah I got that from the title Brass that showed up on screen."

"Whatever. I need you. There's been another attack."

"Not another one."

"Yeah. Same MO. The couple has been transported to the hospital."

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm with Gil and Sara now. I was able to get her statement."

"How is she?"

"Well I got her talking, so that's something. And she was finally able to wash that bastard off her, so I think that helped."

"Good. Well, finish up there and meet me at the scene, I text the address to you."

"Will do."

"Okay, give them my love."

"I will Jim, I'll see you in a while."

"Thanks."

Flipping the phone shut, she took a deep breath. Grissom knew that there had been the three attacks after theirs, but they hadn't told Sara. She was feeling guilty enough. Sighing, she walked back to the table, where Grissom and Sara actually looked somewhat comfortable together.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm going to have to go." She said sadly.

"It's okay." Grissom said, smiling. He could only assume what she had to leave for, knowing that it was Brass, but with Sara there he thought it best not to ask.

"I'll come by after shift? I'll pick up some breakfast for you. I know you must be missing the greasy diner 'food'."

"Thanks Catherine." Sara said sincerely as she got up and lightly hugged the woman. "I mean, for…everything."

"No need to thank me." She said, hugging her back. When they finally released each other, Catherine grabbed her hands and told her in a sisterly tone, "If you need anything, anything at all. Call me okay? I mean it."

"I will." She answered seriously.

"Come on, I'll walk you out." Grissom said, giving Sara a reassuring smile so she wouldn't worry while he was out of the room.

"Bye Sar."

"Bye."

She watched like a hawk as they left the room, keeping her eyes fixed on the doorway, anxiously awaiting his return. Her talk with Catherine had helped a bit. She wasn't yet to the point of understanding or acceptance, but she at least got the words out. She still felt responsible for what happened and still feared that their attacker would return and harm Grissom, but she was talking and that was better than nothing.

After what seemed and eternity, which was only about two minutes, Grissom came back into the room and saw the anxiety all over her face. Watchfully he walked over to her and kneeled again in front of her.

"It's alright. I'm back. I'm right here." He said with a small smile trying to ease her worries.

"Did you…" She started

"Yes, I locked the door and set the alarm. I promise. You're safe. I'm safe. We're safe." He said gently but sternly as he took her hand and led her to the sofa.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

"For what?"

"For being such a burden on you." She said candidly, meeting his eyes quickly.

"What! Sara. You are NOT a burden. You're scared and worried, and you have every right to be. I will do anything to make you feel safe, and if that means making sure the doors are locked and the alarm is set, than I'll do it. It's not a burden. The safer you feel the safer I feel. Hell, I'll install fingerprint and retina scanners for the locks if that's what it'll take. I'd do anything for you Sara. You're my life."

She couldn't help but smile at the thought of having her fingerprint and retina scanned to allow access to her home.

"I'm trying not to be afraid. I really am. I just don't know how."

"Honey, you can be afraid. I'm afraid too."

"You are?"

"Of course I am. I am terrified."

She gave him a look, encouraging him to continue.

"Honey, you're everything to me, my whole world. And it scares me that you're hurting. I'm terrified that I'm going to lose you. That you'll never be able to trust me to protect you again. I'm scared that we won't get through this, that this will tear us apart. The thought of not having you with me, it's the worst thing that could ever happen. And yes, I'm afraid that he'll come back and hurt you again. And I'm scared that hurting so deeply and I don't know how to help you." He said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Griss, I don't know what to do. How do I get over this? I just want to be me again." She said as a bawl of tears overtook her.

"Oh, baby. I don't know. I wish I did. But we'll find a way. We just need to stick together. Protect each other. Help each other." He gasped out, stroking her hand with his.

"I keep thinking about my dad." She admitted, again avoiding his face.

"I thought so. I heard you last night, in your nightmare, you kept yelling his name. But you know what?"

"What?" She asked, taking a deep breath.

"You were getting past that. You were doing so great. And I know that we can get you there again."

"Only because I had you."

"You still do. You always will. You're stuck with me." He said, jokingly with the last part.

"Promise?"

Lifting up his hand and sticking out his pinking he smiled.

"Pinky promise. And you know there's no stronger promise than that."

That got her to laugh, but she wrapped her pinky around his and sealed their fate. Together forever. As she pulled her hand back slowly, against her will a yawn escaped her.

"Tired?" He asked with a small smile.

"A little I guess." She confessed matching his smile.

"Why don't you go ahead and take a nap and I'll clean up lunch."

"Yeah, okay." She said a little reluctantly.

"Do you need anything? Water? Medicine?"

"No thank you. I'm going to try without the pills."

"Okay. But if need anything, I'll be right out here okay?"

"Thanks." She finished sending him a genuine smile, small but true, and heading off to the spare bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Stay

**Chapter Seven: Stay**

About ten minutes later, Grissom was placing the dishes in the dishwasher and wiping up the counters in silence when he heard her.

"Griss?" She yelled from the bedroom, fear striking her voice.

Without a bit of hesitation, panic took over and he ran as fast as his legs could take him to the bedroom. When he reached it, he was flushed and out of breath.

"Sara!" He yelled as he arrived at the doorway, running through it.

Seeing her sitting on the bed with her shirt stuck over her head, normally would be quite a humorous sight, but it was scaring her.

"Sara?" She asked, worried.

"Griss, it's stuck. I can't get it off. I can't see!" She yelped out, fear eminent in her shaky voice.

"It's okay honey, I'm here. It's okay." He said as he moved over to where she was sitting.

"I'm going to have to touch you to take off the shirt. Is that okay?" He asked, uncertainty laced in each word.

"Please, just get it off, I can't see." She cried.

"Okay. Try not to be afraid baby. I'm here. I won't let anything happen." He said gently as he knelt in front of her. "Okay, are you ready?" He asked, wanting to make sure that she was aware of every move he made.

"Yeah. Please, Griss, I'm scared."

"I know baby. Okay here we go." He warned as he slid his hands up under the tangled shirt, wrapped around her arms and head. How she got it that way, he had no idea. Her body naturally flinched with his touch, but she urged him to continue. So he slid his hands up further, careful of the bandages, which he was seeing for the first time and taken a little aback by. Grasping the shirt, he gently pulled and tugged on the shirt, releasing it from her body, exposing her wounded flesh and tear stained cheeks.

"See baby, it's okay." He said, gently wiping her tears with his thumb. What surprised him was her not flinching, but actually leaning in to his touch. He tried not to look at the bandages, but it was difficult.

Noticing him looking she shied away from him, covering herself with her arms.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave you to your nap." He said sadly as he rose from his crouching position and turned to the door.

"Griss?" She called quietly, but enough for him to turn back to her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I can't be beautiful for you anymore." She said, looking down at the bandages covering her flesh.

"Sara, sweetheart, you will always be beautiful." He said honestly, going back to his earlier position in front of her. Hesitantly he ran a gentle finger over the bandage on her stomach. "You think that a couple of scars make you not beautiful?"

"Don't you?"

"Sara, half your body could be missing, or you could be dipped in a barrel of acid and I would still find you to be the most incredibly beautiful woman in the world. Nothing could ever change that. And these…" he said, running his fingers over the bandages, "these are nothing to me. I don't care about scars Sara. You are still gorgeous and sexy and the only woman for me."

That got her calm down and sniff back the tears.

"Griss?"

"Yeah."

"Could you help me?" She asked, which was a major step for her, for them, her letting herself trust him and trust herself again.

"Of course. Anything you need."

"Could you help me change my dressings?" She asked shakily.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for." He said tentatively.

"I'm sure. I need this. I want you to see me." She said quietly, but looking into his eyes.

"Okay. We'll go slowly. If you want me to stop, you tell me." He said calmly.

"Okay. Just be gentle." She said, fighting the tears.

"Always."

Carefully he removed the tape from the bandages and looking into her eyes for any sign of her wanting him to stop, he removed each bandage, placing them in the wastebasket next to the bed. Within about ten minutes Her torso was bare and exposed to him. He swallowed hard, trying to suppress the anger her felt towards that man that did this to her. Taking a deep, unstable breath, he looked up at her.

"You doing okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

She nodded looking into his eyes.

"Okay, I'm going to go get a wash cloth so that we can wash off the old ointment. Okay?"

Again she nodded. Standing up, he grabbed the throw blanket from the end of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders so she wouldn't get cold, or feel uncomfortable.

"I'll be right across the hall." He said, assuring, as he stepped out the door.

A couple minutes later he returned with a large basin with warm soapy water and a washcloth. Placing the basin on the end table next to her, he knelt back down in front of her.

"Ready?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"Just be gentle." She said through tears.

He knew that this was hard for her. Having to depend on others for things was not her style for anything, never mind the trauma she's facing, and trying to be able to trust him and herself. She was trying very hard to overcome some serious obstacles, and he was proud of her.

"If it hurts, tell me and we'll stop okay? Or if you just want to stop. Just tell me."

She nodded and he dipped the cloth into the water and brought it over to her chest. He really did a number on her with that blade. She ended up with over one hundred and fifty stitches.

"Here we go." He said as he tenderly ran the cloth over the first slash. She flinched as he had expected. Soap and open wounds don't mix well.

"Ahhh!" She yelped when he hit an extra sensitive spot.

Instantly dropping the cloth, he looked up at her eyes that were clenched tightly closed.

"Sara? Honey? Are you okay?" He asked extremely worried that he had hurt her further.

"It just stings." She answered through clenched teeth.

"I know baby. I know. Do you want me to stop?" He knew it stung; he had his own lacerations that he had been treating for the last three days.

"No. It's okay. Will you…um…will you…" She trailed off.

"What baby?" he asked, not sure what she was trying to ask.

"Will you hold my hand?" She asked self-consciously.

"Of course." He said, taking her hand in his. "Squeeze as hard as you need."

"Thanks."

"Okay, ready? I'll try my hardest to make it quick."

Taking a firm grip on his hand she nodded and closed her eyes as he grabbed the cloth again and dipped it into the water.

"Get ready." He cautioned her.

With a squeeze of his hand, he placed the cloth to her wounds and washed them carefully. She squeezed his hand hard enough to break it, but he didn't care. She was worth it. This went on for about fifteen minutes.

"All set." He said, placing the cloth down.

She just breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay let's get some new gauze on these and then do your legs. Okay?" he asked gently. He didn't want her to have to go through that again, but the cuts on her legs were even deeper and needed just as much if not more attention.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

A little over a half hour went by bandaging her torso and cleaning and bandaging her legs. Again, she squeezed his might with all her strength, and again he didn't mind. He helped her put on a light tank top and a pair of boxer shorts. He placed the cloth in the bowl and began to stand up.

"Griss?" She asked wearily.

"Hmm?" he said turning back around.

"Will we ever be the same again?"

"No. We'll be better." He said with a strong smile before walking back to the bathroom.

A few minutes later he returned. She was still sitting in the same spot with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders and abdomen.

"Hey Beautiful. Ready to try and get some sleep?" He asked her with a smile as he admired her from the doorway.

"I guess." She said, looking up to him.

Silently he walked further into the room and turned down the blankets. She quietly acknowledged him and slid in under the blankets. Pulling the blankets up to her shoulders and tucking her in lightly, he sat on the edge of the bed and just stared at her for a moment. She was perfect, as always.

"Get some sleep." He said, tucking a stray hair away from her face.

"Griss?" She asked guardedly.

"Yeah?" He said, stroking her hair.

"Will you stay with me?" She asked, sincerity shown in her eyes laced with caution and trepidation.

"Are you sure?" He asked, still concerned that she was trying to face everything to fast.

"I don't want to be alone. You're the only one that can keep the nightmares at bay. Please. I'll feel safer knowing you're with me." She said exhausted.

"Okay. But if you change your mind, you'll tell me?"

She nodded and reached for his hand, rubbing it in a comforting gesture. That was all he needed. He slowly removed his shirt, showing his own wounds that she had yet to see. His torso was more bruised than cut but it looked bad. He never told her the extent of his own injuries. But from what she could see she knew it was bad. She overheard him and Catherine talking about broken ribs, and by the looks of it, there were at least a few. When he removed his jeans, she saw the gauze up his legs and she was sent into a flashback.

Both of their attentions were drawn away from their refuge when Sara screamed and flinched in pain. The man had cut her leg with the knife while cutting her pants from her. She tried to breath through the pain and focus again on Grissom. He looked as though he were about to explode, and just as her eyes were about to calm him; the man did the same thing to the other leg.

"NO!!" Was what he tried to yell as he attempted to move forward, all he wanted was to feel that man's life pass between his own two hands for hurting Sara.

His interruption bought Sara a few moments away from the man, but only to have to again watch as the man slit Grissom's legs, much like he did hers. His muted screams made her blood boil.

"We wouldn't want you to feel left out." The man said simply as he turned back to Sara.

"I'm sorry. If I hadn't screamed…" Her voice fading as she cried.

He had been watching her; he knew that she was re-experiencing something. Now, he knew what it was.

"Sara. Sara. Look at me. Please look at me." He begged sitting back down next to her.

Reluctantly, she did as he asked.

"Sara. If a couple of cuts were able to spare you a few minutes away from that bastard hurting you, I would gladly have him cut me up over and over again. If only to spare you."

"I hated it." She said quietly, burying her head into the pillow.

"What?" he asked, not completely sure what she was referring to.

"All of it. I swear I hated it. I only said those things so that he wouldn't hurt you. I didn't like it. I swear I didn't. I'm so sorry. I understand if you never forgive me." She said as a new wave of tears hit her.

"Honey, I know that. Believe me I know that. You tried to save me. And what do you need to be forgiven for?"

"Griss…I…I…I...had…I had…sex…with another…man…in our…in our bed. I…I…don't deserve you. I don't deserve anything."

"Sara, no." He said as tears washed over hid face. "Sara, you were raped! That man forced you! There is nothing to forgive! Nothing! That man violated you. He raped you Sara. He raped you. You didn't have sex with him, he had sex with you. Forcibly. You were raped Sara. Raped. Don't do this. Please, don't think this is your fault. Don't shut me out of your life. I need you."

Now both an emotional disaster, Sara sat up and wrapped her arms around him holding him as if there were no tomorrow.

"I love you." She whispered through her tears.

"God, I love you so much Sara. You're everything to me. Everything."

Slowly and steadily, they eased their way down onto the bed, Sara settling into Grissom's arms. Both avoiding the other's wounds. Finally they both fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: The Plan

**Chapter Eight: The Plan**

"I can't believe this." Catherine stated as she combed through the newest crime scene with the boys.

"This guys leave every bit of evidence possible but we still have no clue who he is, never mind where. This guy is ripping me apart; I can only imagine how Sara and Griss must be feeling." Warrick said, taking another swab of blood from the mattress.

"How is she Cath?" Nick asked, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.

"She's…scared. She's lost. She's confused. She's angry, depressed. She blames herself. Overall, she's not doing too well. I got her talk for a little while, but who knows. I think she's more worried about Grissom than she is about herself. She's terrified that this sick bastard is going to come back and hurt him. Between the two of them, the emotional tension in that house is overwhelming." She said pointedly.

"She blames herself? How can she think it's her fault? God, how do we help her?" Greg asked, fearing for Sara's well-being.

"From what she told me, she thinks that Grissom was attacked because of her, that he's doesn't want her anymore because she had sex with another man in their bed. I don't think she has let herself accept that it was rape, not consensual sex. I think that in a lot of ways, especially with some of the things I know about her, that she thinks she's not good enough for him. That she's damaged goods or whatever. She's terrified. Went I got there, she was just staring at this one spot in the living room, not speaking, not moving, just staring. She told me later on that she's watching, waiting, waiting for him to return. But that when he does she wants to be ready for him, wants to know he's coming. She thinks that had she been looking at that spot that day, that she would've been able to do something, prevent it somehow. I think the best way we can help her is to find this sick son of a bitch and lock him up for the rest of his life."

"I can't even imagine what must be going through her mind right now. I mean we see this everyday, we deal with the victims, the aftermath of their attacks, but this is different. We dealt with evidence. That's it. But it's Sara now. It's different." Nick acknowledged.

"Yeah man, I know what you mean. But how do we find this guy? I mean we have all the evidence. The only thing he didn't do is leave a signed photo." Warrick added.

After a moment of silence, each lost in their own thoughts own thought, Greg jumped up, with a triumphant smile and a light bulb flickering over his head.

"Yes, yes he did!" Greg said excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.

"Yeah man, I think you've had too much off your weird coffee again." Warrick added.

"I'm serious. And my coffee is not weird!" he retorted.

"Greg! Focus. Now please, explain!" Catherine demanded impatiently.

"Okay, well, we always take pictures of out scenes right? Of the little fan base that lines up along the tape to revel in yet another crime in Vegas…"

"And?" Catherine asked.

"Well, how else could he have targeted Grissom and Sara? He must have seen them at the Gardner scene. That's how he knew where they live, he must have followed them from the scene, to the lab, to their house. Wow, 'their', sounds weird…"

"Focus Greg! Even if he did follow them, we still don't know who he is. His picture in a crowd doesn't come with a DNA exemplar." Catherine noted.

"No, but, we could show the crime scene photos to Grissom and Sara and see if they recognize anyone." Greg suggested.

"You're right, it's a good idea. But I don't know if they're up for that. Sara's so fragile as it is." Catherine pointed out.

"But if we don't…I think it may be hard for her to do it, but don't you think it'll be worse if she doesn't? I mean, you said so yourself, she needs this guy behind bars." He argued sympathetically.

"Okay, say we do this, we put her through this, it still doesn't come with a name." Nick added in.

"No, but we'd be closer. And if she can't pick someone out as the rapist, then we can cross reference that photo with the one's from the other six scenes, their house included. And going by this guys MO and obvious sex drive, there will be another attack. If we can get to the next scene soon enough, hopefully we can catch the guy in the crowd and arrest him, and then all the other victims can pick him out in a line up, we can get his DNA and prints to make a match."

"I think it's worth a shot." Warrick said snapping off his gloves.

"Me too. I mean I love Sara, and I don't want her to suffer any more than she is, but I think she'll suffer more if she were ever to find out that there was a chance to catch the guy and we didn't take it. She's already feeling guilty enough about not being able to prevent her attack, but if she knew that she could potentially prevent more, she would fall apart." Nick proposed.

"Okay. But if she can't or won't do it, we don't push." Catherine said sternly.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"No…No…please. No. NO! Daddy no. Please don't. I promise I'll be good. Please." Sara kept muttering in her sleep, stirring Grissom next to her, who had also been having terror filled dreams.

"Sara! Sara, honey, wake up. Sara…" Grissom called to her, trying to rouse her from her sleep.

"No!!" She screamed, waking herself and throwing herself forward. "No…no. Grissom!!" She screamed, still a bit out of it.

"Honey, it's okay. It's alright. I'm here. I'm here. You're okay. It was just a dream." He kept repeating over and over trying to calm her.

At the sound of his voice she turned to see him and lunged herself into his arms. Holding as tight as she ever had.

"I tried to make him stop, but he wouldn't. He said that I was bad, that I needed to be punished. He said that was how all little girls were punished. I always tried to stop it. I'm sorry I couldn't stop it. I should have stopped it. I couldn't stop him from hurting you." She rambled on, slightly confusing Grissom. It was obvious to him that she was mixing up the past and the present and blending them together.

"Sara. I know you tried to stop your dad. You did everything you could. But, you were just a little girl honey. He was stronger and bigger than you. But you did nothing wrong. And you did everything you could to help me, to protect me. You got hurt trying to save me." He pleaded with her.

"I want this all to be over. I just want us to go back to normal." She cried.

"I know baby, I know. And we will. We'll be back to normal again. It's just going to take some time. We still have a lot of healing to do. But we'll get there babe. I promise."

"I miss you." She said resting her head on his shoulder and caressing the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I miss you too." He replied, stroking her hair and rubbing her back.

Before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang, scaring Sara into tears. Grissom smiled at her to calm her down, which worked to a degree. Stepping off the bed, he pulled on his jeans and shirt and handed Sara her robe. Helping her stand up, he wrapped his arm around her back and leaded her out of the room towards the front door. About ten feet away from the door, the bell rang again and Sara stopped dead in her tracks.

"Sara?" He asked, stopping with her.

"What if it's him?" She asked, genuinely terrified.

"Baby, I doubt that he would use the door bell. But here I'll check the peep hole for you okay?" He said, moving forward but not releasing her hand from his.

Looking through the small hole in the door, he smiled. Catherine was standing in front of the door, with the boys all behind her.

"It's okay honey, it's Catherine. And I think she brought you a surprise." He said as he deactivated the alarm. He knew that Sara was missing the boys, so hopefully this would up her spirits some.

"Ready?" He asked, unlocking the door.

She just pursed her lips in fear and nodded, squeezing his hand tightly.

Pulling open the door slightly he smiled back at Sara before opening it fully, revealing the team on their door step. She let herself smile slightly at seeing their faces. Tired, anxious faces, but friendly and familiar none the less.

"Hey guys. Sorry to just come by." Catherine said walking through the opened door into the living room, quickly followed by the boys.

"Hey Sar, Griss." All the boys said in some variation.

Sara didn't speak. She was still shaky being around men.

"That's okay. What's up?" Grissom asked, taking in Catherine's troubled face.

"Uh, Gil, why don't I help you make some coffee while the boys catch up with Sara." She suggested. Unfortunately her demeanor and lack of subtlety gave her away. Everyone, including Sara knew something was up.

"What? What's going on?" Sara asked, again terror outlining her every feature and word.

"Sara, honey, its okay." Grissom said, trying to keep her from panicking.

"No damn it! What the hell is going on!" She demanded squeezing Grissom's hand and looking to him with tear filled eyes, begging for truth.

Reluctantly, he nodded to Catherine, given her permission to explain.

"Okay, uh, why don't we sit?" Catherine suggested.

Nodding towards the sofas Catherine and the boys walked in and sat, leaving Grissom with Sara by the door.

"Griss, the door." She reminded him. He smiled lightly at her and nodded, walking with her so that she could check outside for anything suspicious, before closing and locking the door and setting the alarm.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

Warrick, Nick and Greg couldn't help but watch the couple. Seeing Sara so frightened was alarming to them all.

"Don't take it personally guys." Catherine said quietly to the boys.

"What?" Nick asked, turning his attention from them back to the red head sitting next to him.

"Her not talking to you or being apprehensive with you. She's afraid of trusting men right now. Even you guys. Just don't take it personally. She still loves you guys; she's just not herself right now. Just try not to be shocked by her behavior, because with what we're going to tell her and put her through, she's bound to have a roller coaster of emotion." She said, very motherly.

"No worried Cath. We love her too. She's like our sister. We understand her uneasiness. We'll be there when she's ready." Warrick said with a reassuring smile.

"Definitely." Greg added before they all turned back to watch the couple talking by the door.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"Griss, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?" Sara asked seriously, but fearing the answer deeply.

"Honey…there have been more attacks. I didn't want to tell you, I didn't want you to have to worry about that. I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to have any added stress. I should have told you." He said honestly, tears filling his eyes.

"There have been more? How many?" She asked sadly.

"Four. That's why Catherine left today. She told me when I walked her out. I'm sorry honey. I should have told you. I just didn't want you to worry or blame yourself."

"Oh my god. That's why they're here? For what, what can I do? I did my statement." She said, swallowing hard as the new information flooded her and caused new tears to flow.

"I don't know honey. I don't know what's going on now. I just get the feeling that whatever it is, you should know the truth, and you should hear it from me." He said quietly.

"I'm scared. I don't know if I can do whatever there here for." She admitted as a cry broke through her, without any hesitation she stepped forward seeking comfort from Grissom. She was beginning to be comfortable around him again. He gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as she cried.

"I know you're scared baby. I know. I'm scared too. But I give you my word that I won't let them do anything that you're not ready for, okay? If you want to stop just tell me and we'll stop okay?" He whispered into her hair, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Okay." She said back sniffling on his shoulder before pulling back.

Before she could wipe her eyes, he brought his hand rose to her face and he wiped them for her. Something that everyone on the sofas noticed. Taking her hand and squeezing it lightly the walked close together to the living room the join the others.

"Sorry guys, I know this isn't easy." Catherine said, everyone to afraid to say anything. "But well, Greg figured out a way that we might be able to catch this guy, but we need your help."

Sara looked to Grissom seeking guidance and support, which she received in a light squeeze of her hand and a small nod as he led her to the arm chair, letting her sit and him sitting on the arm next to her, one hand in hers and the other rubbing her back.

"What can we do?" Grissom asked when no one came out and explained.

Catherine looked to Greg, encouraging him to explain his theory.

"Uh, okay, uh, well. We think that the rap…the attacker followed you from the Gardner crime scene and that's how he learned of your…uh…relationship. Which congrats by the way, I'm happy for you…"

"Greg…" Catherine warned.

"Sorry. Okay, so we put together that he had followed you. And we know that he stalked his other vic…the others. The fact that he followed you from the scene, tells us that he revisits his scenes. So I was thinking, we take photos of the crowds at each scene. And we were thinking that if you could look through the photos, maybe you might recognize him." He said, stuttering a bit throughout.

"That's it? Looking through photos?" Grissom asked, clarifying what she had to do.

"That's it. If you can pick someone out, we'll take it from there." Catherine answered.

Looking down to on very nervous looking Sara, he questioned her with his eyes.

"You don't have to. It's up to you honey." He said quietly, rubbing her back.

"You'll be here?" She asked nervously.

Looking to Catherine for reassurance, she nodded, and he turned back to Sara.

"I'll be right here the whole time. And remember what I said, if it's too much we can stop." He said soothingly.

"Okay, just don't let go." She said with tears clouding her eyes as she squeezed tightly on his hand.

"I won't if you don't." He said with a small encouraging smile.

"Okay." Sara said to Catherine and the boys, who all seem to conveniently have gotten something in their eyes now.

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked, afraid of the consequences this was going to have on them.

Looking up once more at Grissom, she knew she had to do this, if only to protect him.

"I'm sure." She said strongly.

"Okay, just go slow, look at each face. If you recognize anyone just point him out." She said half-way between sister and CSI.

She nodded and squeezed Grissom's hand before taking a deep breath as Catherine opened the file.

"Okay, these are from the scene you worked." She said handing Sara the picture.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Flashback

**Chapter Nine: Flashback**

Closing her eyes tightly, she took another deep breath before opening them again and looking at the picture. Her eyes slowly scanned each face in the background. Nothing clicked. After studying the photo for several minutes, she shook her head and looked up at Catherine.

"Sorry, no." She said handing the picture back.

"It's okay, here try this one, it's from the other side." She replied handing her the next photo.

After only a second of looking at it, a face popped out and her mind went back to the attack. Her eyes glazed over and lost focus as her grip on Grissom's hand went limp.

"Sara? Honey?" Grissom asked, sensing something was very wrong. The picture fell from her hand.

"'Mmm… Maybe it is time for your punishment.' 'No, I think it's time for yours.' My mouth is covered with his hand. Something sharp on my throat. Griss! He can't hear me. 'Not a sound or I kill you and your lover. Understand?' Shivering, I'm shivering. 'Hey Sara, do want me to make some more popcorn?' Grissom, help me. 'Sara? Honey, did you hear…' He looks so scared. 'Please, let her go. Please, just let her go. Take whatever you want, just don't hurt her.' 'Now, now Mr. Grissom, is it? I'm glad you say that, because I promise, I will take what I want. But like I told, Sara, here make a noise and she dies.'"

"Oh, God, she's reliving it! Sara! Sara! Honey! Honey, come on, come back. Come back to me!" Grissom yelled as Catherine ran to his side and the boys tried calling her name.

"Gil, it's not working, her mind is playing this out. She won't come back until the trigger is ended." Catherine tried to explain to him.

"'Okay, okay. Whatever you want.' Griss, don't be scared. Something hard against my head. Everything's black. Screaming, who's screaming. Grissom. Griss. Don't scream. 'No!!' Don't hurt him, please don't hurt him. I'm confused. I'm on the bed, Grissom, why are you on the floor? I'm scared. I'm stuck. I can't move. 'Well now that we're all here, the fun can really begin.' Sharp, it's sharp. Please, no. Close my eyes close my eyes and he'll go away. Go away. Please go away. Grissom. You look so scared. I'm scared. I love you Grissom. Please know that. I'm not here, I'm not here. I'm with you. We're at the park. We're sitting under the trees reading a book. We're not here. 'Ahhhhhh!!' It hurts. Blood, so much blood. He's cutting my pants off. My leg, it hurts. Breathe, just breathe. Grissom. Grissom. Grissom. Grissom, stay calm. 'Ahhhhhh!!' Breathe, keep breathing. My legs hurt. Blood, so much blood. 'NO!!' Grissom. Grissom, no. 'Ahhhhhh!!' No, please don't hurt him. Grissom. No. 'We wouldn't want you to feel left out.'" She continued on. Her voice changing every time she spoke the attackers words.

"God, no. Sara, SARA! Honey come on." Grissom pleaded, his tearing rushing from his eyes as he watched her relive the worst night of their life, and could do nothing to stop it, again. "Please! I can't let you go through this again!" He screamed, but she just kept going.

"Don't move Grissom. It's okay. Just stay safe. Please stay safe. 'Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted? Ah, yes. This is where I cut the rest of your clothes off and have my way with you while your lover boy here watches.' No, please don't. It hurts. It's so sharp, so much blood. It hurts. Don't scream. No noise. Grissom, for you Grissom. You're hurt too much already. Blood, Grissom, your blood, it's everywhere. Please, it's okay. I can't bare you being hurt. You don't need more pain. My clothes, they're gone. Please, no. Not again. Daddy no. Please." That took everyone back, but no one said anything. They just sat there. Grissom holding her hand as tight as he could, realizing that he couldn't wake her from this nightmare. It was killing him, hearing her relive that day from her own mind. Hearing what was going through her mind was horrifying.

"Oh baby. I'm here. Please come back." He whispered as Catherine rubbed his back with tears in her eyes.

Nick, Warrick and Greg were all already crying listening to the attack playing out in Sara's mind. They knew it had been bad, but they had no idea.

"Please no. I'm naked. I don't want to be. Please don't do this. Don't touch me. Please stop. Stop touching me. Stop please. Griss, I want you touching me. Not him. Please don't look. Close your eyes. Don't watch this, please. What are you doing? The tape, it's gone. I can talk. 'You scream, he dies while you watch, and I still continue with you.' He has a gun. No. Leave him alone. Please don't shoot Grissom. Please. I'll do anything. Just don't hurt him. Cold eyes. Short brown hair. Brown eyes. 5'11", 6'0" 200 lbs. White shirt, blue jeans. Oh God. Don't. Please. Scar on upper chest. Please. Grissom. Griss. 'I Love You.' I know. I know." She began crying hysterically as she was narrating their experience.

"Please. Don't go through this. Sara. Please. I need you here with me. Please, Sara, Please." Grissom begged, knowing exactly what was next.

"I'm scared. Griss, don't watch. He's naked. I'm so scared. Get off me. Please, get off. Don't touch me. Please. No! Please stop. Please. You're hurting me. Please. Get out of me. Please. Griss, don't yell. Please. Don't. 'Ahhhh!' Stop, please, I don't want this. Please, please stop. Griss, stop yelling, it hurts. Please don't touch me. It hurts. Please, please, stop. Get your hands off me, it hurts. It's sharp, please don't. My throat. Grissom. Grissom. I don't want to die. Look away Grissom, look away. 'What's the matter Mr. Grissom, didn't your mother ever teach you to share your toys?' Don't kiss me. Don't! Grissom don't scream! 'Ahhhhh!!' More blood. 'Uh, Uh, Uh, make another noise and your friends will be investigating her death.'"

By this point Grissom was crying uncontrollably. "Sara…Sara…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

"Please, don't kiss me. 'Ah!' My face, it hurts. Please get out of me, you're hurting me. Stop. Please stop. Grissom. Please don't hate me. 'I'm sorry.' It hurts. Please, it's too much. Please stop. Please. 'Is this how you like it?' I'm not here, I'm not here. He stopped. Please leave me alone. 'I said is this how you like it Bitch!' Please stop hitting me. Please. 'Ahhh!' The knife, it's so sharp. Grissom. No! Don't hurt him. Please, I'll do anything, just don't hurt him. 'Answer me or I shoot him and he bleeds out all over your nice carpet.' 'YES! Okay yes.' No, it isn't. Now please leave him alone. 'Yes what?' Please. Don't. Grissom, I'm sorry. 'Yes I like it.' Please, now leave us alone. 'I'm sorry I don't think everyone heard.' Please stop. Please. 'YES! YES I LIKE IT!' Oh god. Grissom, I'm sorry. 'Good! Take note Mr. Grissom. She likes it rough.' It's so sharp. 'Ahh!' Please. I don't want to be here. 'How's it feel Mr. Grissom? Watching your girlfriend fucking me and liking it. Her own words. That's got to sting. Watching your girlfriend cheating on you.' It's not true, please it's not true. It is true. I'm cheating on you. But I don't mean it, I swear. Please, just stay safe.."

"I can't take this." Grissom said, his anger rising. "She did it all for me. It's all my fault." He cried.

Sara continued on to relive the beatings after refusing to say what he wanted her to. The painful thrusts deep inside of her for punishment. The beatings on Grissom when she refused to moan for him. The brink of pain she was in. Praising him for his performance. And finally him ejaculating inside her. Reliving it all.

"I'm sorry Grissom. I know you hate me. I just wanted to keep you safe. 'Well, this has been fun. We'll have to do it again sometime. Pleasant dreams.' Don't kiss me. Please, leave." She finished.

Everyone was crying wildly as Sara finished her flashback. Slowly, her eyes began to focus again and her grip tightened on Grissom's hand. Terrified, he looked up at her. Seeing him, and everyone else in tears, she was suddenly very confused and scared. She didn't remember anything of her flashback. Just like flashbacks she had in the prior years. She never remembered them.

"Griss? What's wrong? What happened?" She asked shakily, feeling very uneasy with the stares fixed on her.

"You don't remember?" He asked, placing a hand on her cheek, with tears streaming down his face.

"Remember what?" She asked, fear evident in her eyes.

"Honey, you…you had a flashback." He said nervously.

Her eyes widened. Looking around at the others, she freaked out.

"No. No. No. No. No." She kept repeating as she got up and ran down the hall to the spare bedroom.

Grissom watched her go. Wanting to run after her, but needing to finish this, for her.

"She obviously recognized someone." He said, picking up the photo. Within seconds he found him and he felt his pulse rise. "Him! He's that bastard that did that to her!" He yelled, pointing out the man in the picture.

Catherine took the photo and circled the man. Standing up, with the boys following, She hugged Grissom. "I'll call you as soon as we know anything." She said quietly.

"I'm sorry Griss. I didn't think that would happen. I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry." Greg said through tears.

"It's not your fault Greg, you were just trying to do what you thought was best." Grissom assured.

"Bye Griss." Both Nick and Warrick said as they all walked to the door. Grissom deactivated the alarm and unlocked the door letting them out before closing it, locking it, and reactivating the alarm.

Taking a deep breath, he walked to the spare bedroom.

"Sara? Honey. It's just me." He announced as he knocked lightly on the door frame. "Sara?" He asked again when he got no response. He looked into the room, not seeing her. Moving in he called her name again and was greeted by a small sound coming from the closet. Walking slowly over to it, he slid the door open and knelt down. "Sara, honey, it's just me." He announced again.

She was cuddled up in the corner of the dark closets, tears streaming from her eyes, hugging her body close.

"Honey?" He asked sweetly, crawling into the closet with her.

"They all know now don't they?" She asked through tattered breaths.

"Know what baby?" He asked, placing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

"About my dad. About me."

"Why do you say that?"

Taking a deep breath, she leaned in to him.

"When that man was…when he was doing those, those…things. I kept having flashbacks of my dad. And if I just had a flashback of that, then they would know that." She said dismayed.

"I don't know honey. I noticed it. But I don't know if they did. And even if they did, there's nothing wrong with it baby. They know you weren't in control. Not with your dad and not with that man. They love you Sara, that's all they care about." He said soothingly.

"What triggered it? Did I see him, in the picture I mean?"

"Yeah, you did. But you did good baby. I just wish that you didn't have to go through that. It was so scary watching you reliving that, and there was nothing I could do to help you." His own tears forming now.

"You did help me." She said sitting up so she could see his face.

"Not enough." He said crushed.

"Yes, yes you did. All I wanted, through that whole time was just to keep you safe, to keep you alive and you are now. That's all that matters to me, knowing that you're safe." She whispered as she wiped back the tears.

"You know something?" He asked holding her close.

"Hmm?"

"When we were in there, I was thinking of us at the park too. Under the trees reading a book."

"How did you…" She started to ask, confused.

"You said it when you were reliving it. I love you. You know that right? I love you more than I ever thought was possible." He said, placing a small, chaste kiss on the top of her head.

"I know. I love you too." She said, relaxing into his embrace.

"What do you say we go back to bed?" He suggested quietly, rubbing her back lightly.

"Can we just stay here for a little while longer?" She asked, nuzzling into his chest.

"Of course." He said, settling down and hold her protectively.

"Did you...?" She asked tiredly but distressed.

"Yes honey. Doors are locked, alarm is set. You're safe. I won't let anything happen."

"I love you."

"I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: For Sara

**Chapter Ten: For Sara**

Everyone was silent, eerily silent as they collected their thoughts and feelings about the events minutes before. No one had expected Sara to react like that. And no one expected her subconscious confession of her father's abuse. They were shocked to say the least, and worried and scared.

"Catherine?" Greg asked, still wiping the tears from his eyes, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" She asked from the driver's seat.

"Do you think Sara will be alright? I mean the things that she said in there. Hearing it. I never imagined. I mean I knew he hurt her, but I didn't really let myself believe how much."

"I don't know Greg. I wish I did. She has a lot of demons to face, and judging by her reaction in there, it's not going to be easy." She said grimly.

"Did her dad really do those things to her?" He asked innocently. He was like a little kid worried about his best friend. It was sweet, despite the circumstances.

When Catherine kept silent and a stray tear ran down her face, they all knew the answer. Suddenly they all realized Sara's reaction to certain cases. How she interacted with those suspects and victims, why she wouldn't let those particular cases go. She was fighting for the victims but she was also fighting for herself.

"Does Griss know?" Nick asked, also very teary eyed from hearing the attack on his best friend in full detail.

"Yeah, he does." Catherine said softly. "He's been helping her face it, and if there's one person that can get her through this it's him."

"When we find this guy, I just one five minutes alone with him! That sick son of a bitch!" Warrick yelled through tears as he slammed his hand on the dashboard.

"Hey calm down!" Catherine yelled, placing her hand over his. "Now come on guys! Sara needs us right now. We're no good to her if we're all falling apart. Believe me, this guy fucked with the wrong person and he'll pay the price for it. But for now we need to focus okay? Okay?" She said angrily.

"You're right, I'm sorry Cath. It's just…God, why Sara? She didn't deserve any of that. Neither did Grissom." He apologized.

"No one ever does War. No one ever does." She retorted sensitively.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"I GOT HIM!" Nick yelled from the layout room.

Before he could even finish he remark, Catherine, Brass, Warrick and Greg were all running into the room with hopeful expressions on their faces.

"Look! I imported the scene photos into the computer and scanned the face that Griss and Sara pointed out into the facial recognition software. And check it out, same guy at all seven scenes. That's him, that's our guy." Nick said, almost all in one breath, excitedly.

"So what now?" Warrick asked incredulous.

"Well, it's a long shot, but I have the facial recognition software scanning through DMV photos from Las Vegas that match this guys description." Nick added on.

"Otherwise we wait. As horrible as it is, if we're going to catch him with our plan, we have to hope that another couple gets attacked." Catherine said solemnly.

"How do we know if he'll even stay though? I mean all of those photos were taken right when we arrived at the scene. What if we're too late?" Warrick asked, still unsure of this plan.

"Well, we don't. But we know that he stayed throughout the entire time Griss and Sara were processing their scene. So I guess we can only hope. And make sure we're there right away." Greg added in.

"I can't believe that this guy has been there, at each scene and we were looking right at him and didn't know." Brass commented, feeling a little disturbed that they were so close.

"Well, hopefully this will end it all, for Sara, Gil and all the other victims and this bastard can rot in prison where he belongs." Catherine said a bit dismayed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Relief

**Chapter Eleven: Relief**

Being sore from the attack was bad enough, but waking up in a closet just added to that. They must have been more tired than either thought because they fell asleep curled up together in the corner of the bedroom closet. Grissom awoke to Sara moaning painfully and moving her head from side to side in her sleep. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and familiarized himself with their surroundings, finding it strange for a moment that they were sleeping the closet, until his memory caught up with him and he remembered the events leading up to falling asleep. Looking down at the restless Sara he sighed, knowing how much pain she was in and will still have to face.

"Sara. Sara, honey. Wake up." He whispered softly, rubbing her back.

"No…please…no…don't hurt him." she was saying hazily.

"Sara, Sara, Sweetie, wake up. Wake up." He kept repeating, effectively stirring her. "That's it baby. Open your eyes." He said softly, brushing her hair from her face.

"Griss?" She said confused.

"Yeah baby, it's me. You're okay. It was just a nightmare. I'm here. I'm right here." He said soothing her pained emotions.

"I was so scared." She cried as she clenched on to him, holding him tight.

"I know baby. I know. I was too. But you're safe now. We're safe and we're together."

For a while they just sat there holding each other, calming the other with words of comfort and love.

"What do you say we get out of here for a while. We could go to the park or take a drive out to the beach. Whatever you want." Grissom suggested.

"I don't know. What if something happens to you?" She asked, fearing for his safety.

"Well, I can't promise that nothing with happen. But I can't promise that the fridge won't fall on me staying inside either. I think some fresh air, a change of scenery might do us some good. Get our minds off things for a while. What do you say?" He said trying to persuade her.

"Okay I guess. I'm just scared."

"I know. And if we go out and you don't feel comfortable, we can come right back, okay?"

"Okay. But you'll stay with me the whole time right?" She asked, wide-eyed with fear.

"I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be." He said with a loving smile and a soft caress of her cheek with his thumb.

A minute or two went by in silence before Grissom carefully but painfully got up, and helped Sara up. Walking to the dresser Sara opened a drawer and pulled out some clothes.

"I need a shower." She said simply.

"Okay. Why don't I make some breakfast while you shower?" He suggested.

"Griss?" She said avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah honey?" He said, coming to stand beside her.

"Will you help me? I can't do it by myself." She said, feeling very ashamed and embarrassed.

"Honey, I would love to help you. You don't need to feel ashamed because you need help, ever. There will come a day when I will need your help. Well, I suppose that day has come many times already…" He said with a laugh.

That made her smile a bit and relax. Even though she was uncomfortable with him seeing her like this, naked like this, at the same time, he was the only person that she actually felt comfortable with. Smiling slightly, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his chest.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"For what?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her back and holding her close, resting his head on top of hers.

"For being you. For always being there. For still wanting to see me, even now." She whispered.

"I will always want to see you. Always. Even when we're old and wrinkly and need wheel chairs to get to the kitchen. I will still find you to be the sexiest woman alive." He said with a small snicker at the thought of them wheel chair racing with no teeth.

"I'll never get old. You however are already old." She joked. Which was a nice feeling for them both.

With a mock-serious pout, he gasped and lifted his hands up over his arms. "Ouch! You're mean." He joked back, making her laugh.

"I like the sound of that." He said at the sound of her laughing instead of crying.

"Of what?" She asked, calming her amusement.

"You. Laughing. It's the best thing I've heard in four days." He said with a smile, looking down into her eyes.

"Me too." She said, hugging him once more.

"You ready for your shower? We'll have to re-bandage you after." He said calmly.

"What about you? You need to change yours too." She said concerned.

"I'll do mine after you. And then we can eat some…" He said, stopping short.

"What?" She asked alarmed.

"Sorry, I just remembered that Catherine said yesterday at lunch that she was going to come over with breakfast. I don't know if she was still planning on it. If she was, do you want her here? If not, I can tell her that we're going out and that we'll see her another time. It's up to you. I'll have to call her either way."

"If we're going to go out, do you think that we could maybe meet her and the team at the diner for breakfast?" She asked, biting her bottom lip.

"I think that sounds splendid." He said, receiving a snort and a stifled laughter from Sara in response. "What?" he asked bemused.

"Only you can use the word 'splendid' in the year twenty0seven and pull it off. It's going to have to go on my list of the reasons why I love you." She said with a loving smile.

"You're just jealous 'cause you can't pull it off." He retorted jokingly back.

"Yeah, okay. Come on Shakespeare. I'm getting hungry." She said with a slight smile, taking his hand and her clothes and heading to the bathroom.

"Okay, I'll meet you there. I'm just going to call Catherine and let her know." He said, releasing her hand and heading to the phone.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"Willows." Catherine answered her phone while she sat with the rest of the team in the break room, going over the evidence, again, for anything they may have missed.

"Cath, it's Gil." Grissom greeted from the other end.

"Hey. How's Sara doing? We've all been worried." She replied, getting everyone's attention fixed on her with the mention of Sara's name.

"She's doing better I think. She was asking just joking around a little while ago."

"Really? That's great. I hope it stays." Catherine replied, happy but cautious.

"Me too. Anyways, I was wondering if you all had time to take a break to go for breakfast. Sara wants to see everyone out of the house. I'm going to take her out today for a while, let her get some air." He said hopeful that they could go.

"That's a good idea. She could use a little sun. I don't think that should be an issue, hold on, everyone's hear now, I'll ask them." She said before moving the phone away from her mouth a little and looked up at the boys and Brass. "Grissom is taking Sara out for the day, they'd like to know if we'd like to meet them for breakfast. Sara wants to see everyone."

"Of course we'll be there. Right?" Nick replied, then turned and asked the rest.

"Sure thing." Greg said.

"Anything for Sara." Warrick replied.

"Love to." Brass finished.

"Me too." Catherine added before turning back to the phone. "Yeah, Gil, we're all in. What time? And where?"

"Uh. Well I'm going to help Sara with a shower and bandage her up, so say and hour and a half at the diner?" He recommended.

"That works. Wait? Did you say that you're helping her?" Catherine asked in amazement.

"Yeah. I think she's beginning to get more comfortable." He said, his smile radiating through his voice.

"Good for you Gil. And good for her. That's a big step." Catherine said, matching his smile, making all the guys in the room question her silently.

"Yeah, it is. And I couldn't be more proud of her."

"Us too. Okay, well you go help her and we'll see you later." Catherine said with a wide grin.

"Thanks Cath."

"Anytime." She said hanging up.

"WHAT!?" They all shouted to her when she hung up.

"Sara's doing better. She's letting Grissom help her shower. Which we all know is a huge deal for a rape victim. I just hope that she stays in the right direction." Catherine said excitedly.

"That's great." "Awesome." "Good for her." "Go Sara." Were the varied replies of joy from the four men, all spoken at the same time.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"They're going to meet us at the diner in an hour and a half." Grissom commented as he walked into the bathroom.

He was instantly taken aback by the sight of Sara. No longer the comedic that she was minutes before, but not quite the scared Sara that had existed the last few days. It was something else.

"Honey? What's is it? What's wrong?" Grissom asked worriedly as he stepped in front of her and knelt down to her eyes level.

"I'm nervous." She said quietly.

"About what baby?" he asked, his heart sinking in his chest.

"Lots of things." She said, turning her face away from him.

"Like what?" He asked, stroking her knuckles with his thumbs.

"The team. What…what if they look at me differently now? I mean because of everything, the attack, my dad, the flashbacks…all of it." She said fretfully.

"Honey. What happened when you told me about your dad?" Grissom asked matter-of-factly.

"You helped me. Why?" She asked, not following where he was going with this.

"Exactly, and all I saw when I looked at you was the same amazing Sara, the strong, beautiful, sexy, exuberant, wonderful women that I fell in love with. That woman that chased me for aver a decade for a chance. That same woman that sat up all night watching a pig decompose to prove a theory. That same woman that wouldn't drop an investigation, even when she found out that it was a gorilla not a human. That woman who fights for the victims' everyday and never gives up hope. That woman whose smile can melt any man into a puddle of mush. The woman that every man in the lab and more fell in love with." He said with a confident smile.

Smiling at his words, she laughed a little.

"What do you mean everyone in the lab fell in love with?" She asked with a frown.

"Oh come on, you can't be that oblivious." He said with a snicker.

"Name one!" She demanded.

"I can do better than that. Nick fell in love with from the start. You two used to drive me insane with the constant flirting." He said disgusted with the memory.

"Nick's like a brother." She argued.

"He was in love with you."

"Okay fine, who else?"

"David. He would get so excited when you would go to autopsy. He's married now and he's still in love with you." He said with a playful smirk.

"David's sweet. But no." She said, doubtfully.

"He is. I remember you telling me a long time ago that he was flirting with you and you told him that if he wanted any chance with a girl to loose the coat and grow some scruff." He said laughing at the memory.

"Oh god. I did tell him that didn't I? Okay, I'll give you that one; he definitely was hitting on me. It was flattering." She said was an amused smile.

"He still does." Grissom countered.

"Jealous? So that's two, that's hardly the whole lab." She retorted.

"Greg Sanders for five00, Bob." He joked.

"Oh please. Greg?!" she asked, very amused by this conversation.

"Yes Greg. He actually went to Catherine and asked her advice on whether he should ask you out. And he did."

"No he didn't. Greg has never asked me out." She disagreed.

"Yes he did, you just didn't know. He tried being sly. Asking you to join him at break and such. So technically, you dated Greg Sanders." He laughed.

"Nuh uh. Did he really? I mean I knew that he had a little school boy crush, but I never thought he was serious." She said, slightly annoyed with her own investigative abilities.

"Oh, Hodges." Grissom added quickly.

"WHAT! That's a lie." She said, very seriously.

"Nope. When we caught him coloring his hair with that sharpie and you made that comment about grey hair being very attractive, he wouldn't stop talking about how you find him attractive." He said with a very pleased smile on his face.

"That's just wrong. I was referring to you. Eew. I'm never going to be able to look at him the same again." She said appalled.

He laughed as he helped her stand.

"So is that all you got?"

"Nope. Not too sure about Warrick. I think he's too in love with Catherine and his wife to give it much thought." Getting them both to laugh at the thought. "But, Bobbie, Henry and Archie. Vega is constantly checking you out. Never mind all the officers at scenes that can't keep their eyes off of you." He pointed out as he turned the water on in the shower.

"You're missing someone." She stated plainly.

"Oh yeah? Who's that?" he said with an debonair smile.

"Just this guy. I've known him since college actually." She said playfully.

"Really?" He said, trying to stifle his laughter.

"Yup. Says he fell in love with me when he saw me running across campus. Said I had such grace for someone fifteen minutes for a class. Personally I think he's full of it." She said mock serious.

"Sounds it. So what happened?" He asked helping her off with her robe.

"Well we had a secret love affair during the time he was there, but he lived in Vegas and I lived in San Francisco, so I ended it. Worst decision of my life. But we stayed in touch over the years, visited each other when we could, emailed and such. Then out of the blue, he called one day and told me that he needed me. Okay well, needed my help, but I chose to see it as a double meaning. So I hopped on a plane and headed to Vegas, then he asked me to stay. So I did. We flirted, a lot. Then I asked him out and he turned me down and avoided me for months." She continued, as he began removing the bandages from her legs under her shorts.

"Okay I get it. I was an ass." He said with a pout.

"Yes, but you finally came to your senses and for the last two years we have been once again involved in a secret love affair, well, not so secret anymore. And we moved in together bake cookies and do the whole 'couple' thing." She said with a grand smile.

"And they lived happily ever after." He said matching her smile as he finished taking off the leg bandages. "Ready?" He asked, motioning to her shirt.

"I'm nervous." She said shyly.

"About?" He asked, halting his movements.

"You. Seeing me like this. Knowing what I did." She said as her emotions caught in her throat.

"Hey, baby, you did nothing wrong. Nothing. And I know that. You were forced. And seeing you like this is nothing. It shows me how strong you are. And how hard you fought to keep me safe. I wish I could have done the same for you." He said despondently.

Reaching forward with shaky hands, she grasped his t-shirt and slowly pulled it up and off of his head, her intentions confusing him.

"You did." She said running her fingers over the cuts and bruises covering his torso. "You did fight to save me." She said mesmerized by the markings on him.

Gently and leisurely she flattened her palms to his skin and slowly guided her hands over his chest, following the faint movements with her eyes. Cautiously, she moved her wandering hands up and over his shoulders, in a slow, seductive manner. Warily, she leaned forward and kissed Grissom. A simple kiss at first, but then she quickened it and ran her tongue lightly across his bottom lip. Reluctantly he pulled back to see a very uncertain Sara staring at him.

"Sara…" He said in a low, calming tone.

"Please Griss. Make him go away." She said as she leaned back in to kiss him again.

When he again pulled back, her eyes started to tear up and she looked away, ashamed.

"You don't want me." She stated through tears, looking away.

"Yes. Sara. I do. Believe me I do." He said, taking her hands in his, his heart breaking seeing her so upset. "But I want you. I want to be with you because that's what we both want, because we love each other and it feels right. I don't want to be with you just to fill the hole that that man left in you. I want to be with you, all of you. But when we're ready. And we're not ready yet honey." He explained, his own tears in his eyes.

Slowly she turned her face back to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry. I just thought that if we could be together again, that everything could go back to the way it was."

"I know baby. I know. But we just have to take this one step at a time. And besides, you need to heal, we both do, physically before we can even think about that. Agreed?" He asked, as he moved over to the shower to adjust the water temperature.

"Yeah." She answered soberly.

Slowly, with her gaze fixed on his, she raised her arms up into the air. Clutching the hem of her shirt in his hands, he carefully slid it up and over her head, leaving them both now bare from the waist up. Keeping his eyes fixed on hers as much as possible, he tenderly removed all the bandages from her body and helped her stand. Checking her eyes for any uncertainty and finding none, he slowly removed her shorts and underwear, leaving her naked in front of him. Grasping tightly to her hands, he helped her step into the shower, the water stinging her wounds. Questioning her silently with his eyes, and receiving a nod in reply, he quickly removed his jeans and bandages and stepped into the stall with her. Taking the removable showerhead from its cradle, he sprayed down her body gently, and slicked her hair back with the warm water. Placing the sprayer back in its original position, he carefully lathered her body in soap with the bath sponge, careful not to hurt her. After her body was rinsed, he took her favorite shampoo and squeezed a generous portion into his palms before tenderly caressing it into her wet locks of brown hair. After they were both all clean and rinsed, he shut off the water and reached out of the stall to retrieve a towel. Wrapping it around Sara's shoulders, he smiled at her and leant forward, placing a loving kiss on her forehead.

"You're beautiful." He whispered.

Stepping forward slightly, she wrapped her towel-clad arms around his waist and hugged him close, receiving his arms around her in return.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

After much consideration and persuasion, Grissom was finally able to get Sara to leave the house with him. He had to lock and relock the door several times and couldn't let go of her hand, but eventually they were nested in the car and on their way to the diner, and on time surprisingly.

"So what do you want to do today?" Grissom asked her while they were driving to the diner, trying to distract her from the thoughts in her head.

"I don't know. Wherever I guess." She said, holding his hand tightly.

"Well, we need some groceries. How about we stop at the market you like. What is it, the farmer's market?" He suggested.

"Sure. They have the best vegetables in the city." She said with a small smile.

"Okay. Anything else?" He asked hopeful.

After taking a few moments to think she responded.

"Well there's a book store out by Lake Mead that I've been wanting to check out. It's all old and used books, like something you'd see in the movies. From what I hear their prices aren't bad either." She said, the distraction finally starting to work.

"That sounds really nice. Maybe they'll have the Edgar Allen Poe collection that you've been looking for." He said with a smile.

"That would be really nice if they did. But I won't get my hopes up. We've been looking for an original copy for over a year." She said with a bemused grin.

"How about after we have a picnic on the lake?" He recommended.

"Yeah, that would be good." She answered softly.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Just Like Old Times

**Chapter Twelve: Just Like Old Times**

"Still nothing. This sucks. We have the guy. We know everything about him, except for an address or name. This is ridiculous." Nick exclaimed, looking through the evidence again.

"Alright well, let's get going. This will all still be here when we get back. Gil and Sara should be at the diner any minute." Catherine said, throwing a folder down on the table.

"I got to say I'm a little nervous." Greg admitted.

"About what?" Catherine asked.

"Sara. I mean I feel like I don't know what to say to her." He said sadly.

"I know what you mean." Warrick agreed.

"Guys, she's still Sara. She's going through something, but she's still the same Sara that you've known for seven years. The stuff about her father, well, what does it matter? She had still gone through that a week ago, you just didn't know. Nothings changed. There's nothing any of us can do to change what has happened to her, it's in the past, so don't make a big deal of it. As for the rape, don't bring it up unless she does, let her lead. Just talk to her like you would normally. She needs normal right now. I think that's probably why she wanted to go the diner. It's familiar. So be cool guys." Catherine instructed them as they all walked out of the lab to the parking lot where Brass was waiting.

"Ready kids?" He asked with a quirky grin.

"But Daddy, I gotta pee!!" Greg joked, making everyone laugh as he climbed into the back seat of Catherine's Denali with Warrick and Nick while Catherine and Brass got in the front.

Five minutes later they pulled into the diner parking lot where Grissom's Denali was parked with Grissom and Sara standing by the engine talking.

"Ready honey?" He asked softly, squeezing her hands in his.

Putting on a brave face, she smiled and nodded as they turned to the exiting passengers of the other Denali.

"I'm telling you Greg, you're walking back!" Catherine said, as she got out of the driver's seat with her white blouse not coffee stained.

"I said I was sorry!" Greg whined, deeply afraid of the wrath of Catherine.

"Catherine?" Grissom asked curiously at the sight of her coffee stained top.

Everyone was laughing or grinning, except Greg. Even Sara found this to be humorous.

"Nice shirt Cath." Sara commented with a smile. That smile made everyone instantly breathe a lot easier.

"Thanks, custom made by Greg." Catherine mocked back.

"What happened?" Grissom asked, finding the whole mood of the team to be very uplifting and Sara's ease even better.

"Greg tried to steal my coffee. Let's just say that neither of us got to drink it." Catherine said with a scowl.

"I offered to lick it off." Greg said with his hands up in surrender.

"Greg!" Catherine warned.

"Okay, I'm going to get us a table before Catherine finds the best way to murder me and hide the body." Greg said fearfully. "Hey Sara, hey Griss." He said quickly before running to the door and out of Catherine's reach.

"That boy, I tell you." Catherine said, annoyed as she tried cleaning up the coffee with some napkins.

"I think I have an extra shirt in the car if you'd like it Cath." Sara offered, feeling very bad for Catherine.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." She replied as she walked to the back of the truck with Sara and Grissom, still holding hands.

Searching through her duffle bag with her spare clothes for the lab, she finally pulled out a long sleeve black blouse and handed it to Catherine.

"Thank you so much. Now I just need to figure out a way to get Greg back." Catherine said with a devious smile.

"Well if you really want to torture him, you could always change your shirt in front of him." Sara suggested with a smile as she closed the duffle bag, catching both Grissom and Catherine off guard. Sensing their shock, she turned to face them. "What? It was just a suggestion." She said shrugging her shoulders and leaning in to Grissom's side, allowing him to wrap his free arm around her shoulders.

"It's really nice to see you smiling Sar. You deserve it." Catherine pointed out, pulling her in to a quick hug.

"Thanks. It's nice to be able to smile again." She said looking up at Grissom, her ultimate reason for being able to smile.

"Well? Shall we?" Grissom said with a smile of his own as he motioned to the diner.

Together the three walked to the door, noticing that Nick, Warrick and Brass had already gone in. Finding their table was not hard, and not only because it was a small diner, but because it was the only one with four grown men building a huge castle out of jelly packets, utensils, salt and pepper shakers, syrup bottles, creamer cups and just about anything else they could find.

"Oh boy." Sara remarked upon seeing the creation.

"Yeah, have fun with that. I'm going to go change. Save me a seat." Catherine added before turning to go to the ladies room.

"I think they're in the wrong field." Grissom stated looking back and forth between Sara and the table. "I think architecture would have suited them." He added before leading her over to the large table.

"I dub thee Sidle Castle!" Greg announced placing a 'flag' (toothpick and sugar packet) on the top.

"Sidle Castle huh? That must be royalty you got in there." Sara interjected, sliding into the booth next to Brass and Grissom.

"Oh yeah. You should meet her. She's totally badass. The coolest Queen EVER! Especially when she's wearing coveralls and working under a car. It's hott." Greg exclaimed excitedly.

Blushing slightly, Sara looked to Grissom and back to Greg with a large Sidle Smile.

"Well I'll just have to meet this chick. Nobody works in coveralls without me and gets away with it!" She teased.

"You could take her." Greg said with a sarcastic grin.

Everything felt right. Felt normal for the first time in days. Greg's little flirting banter and everyone just having fun. When Catherine returned to the table, it only got better.

"So, Greg I hear that you and I dated." Sara said calmly with salting her omelet, causing him to choke on his orange juice, making everyone laugh.

"What?" He asked with a mixture of fear and enthusiasm.

"That's what I'm hearing. Apparently I was dating you and didn't even know it. And I never even got flowers!" She teased.

"Oh…!" he said remembering when he 'dated' her. "Well, I was just such an incredible boyfriend that when we broke up you erased it from your memory so that you wouldn't have to always be thinking of just how incredible I am." Greg joked, all to full of himself.

"Ah, okay. That must be it." Sara said laughing.

"Well in that case Greg, I'm glad you broke her heart." Grissom stated, receiving a confused stare from Sara. "Cause now I have her." He said smiling before kissing her forehead, making everyone smile.

"Oh don't worry Grissom, she'll come crawling back to the Greg-ster. They always do." Greg joked, brushing off his shoulders with a self-righteous smile.

"Oh no!" Sara gasped sarcastically. "Be afraid, be very afraid." She said laughing and throwing a mushroom at Greg across the table.

The rest of the meal went pretty much the same way, only with Nick and Warrick joining in on the banter, and Catherine too become a target. Grissom just tried to avoid the food being thrown and Brass was laughing so hard he was crying. Overall it was an incredible time, and not once did Sara think about her attack.

After paying the bill they all headed to the car park, where despite her fears, Sara gave a loving hug to each of the boys, thanking them, which they all knew was for making her laugh. She even gave Greg a small kiss on the cheek that he then joked was her way of saying 'she totally wants me.' After saying their goodbyes and inviting everyone over for supper that night, Grissom helped Sara into the truck and quickly joined her inside, heading off to the farmer's market.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Rain

**Chapter Thirteen: Rain**

"That was a lot of fun." Sara commented as they drove off.

"It was. I'm glad you had a good time." Grissom said with a pleased smile.

"Then again with Greg and an endless supply of jelly packets, I should have known." She said lightly.

"True. He is something that's for sure." He noted.

"You love him and you know it." She teased.

"I will never admit to such a thing." He said determinedly.

"You used to say that about me too." Sara pointed out, making his face turn red.

"That was different. You were, are, dangerous. Admitting that I loved you, meant giving in to my temptations which could very well get in trouble. But I can assure you that I don't have fantasies about Greg, especially not the ones I have about you." He recoiled with a smile.

"Oh come on, you don't want to see Greg all hot and sweaty in the sheets?" She laughed as his face turned to one of disgust.

"Uh, no. Why do you?" He asked, now very curious.

"Ha. Admit that you love him and I'll tell you." She retorted, with a mischievous grin.

"Greg Sanders is a good CSI and a great guy. Brings an energy to the job that is much needed, I love him like a son." He admitted. "Now spill."

"Okay, well, I have thought about him before. Not something I put a lot of thought into, but it has crossed my mind. Just like Warrick and Nick at some point, as I'm sure you have thought about Catherine." She answered honestly.

When she got not response, she knew that he had in fact thought of Catherine. He couldn't lie to her, but he wouldn't admit it either, so his best option was to just stay quiet.

"I knew it!" She exclaimed, turning in her seat with a very questioning grin on her face. "So, how was she?" She asked trying to stifle her laughter.

"I'm not having this conversation." Grissom answered, hoping that she would drop the subject.

"No, no, no. I want to know. I want details." She demanded with a giggle.

Only because this was keeping her mind occupied and keeping her laughing, he obliged.

"Okay, but if was before we were together." He said, making sure that was clear.

"Okay, but honey I don't mind if you think about other women as long as you come home to me." She assured him.

"I will always come home to you." He said sweetly.

"Okay, come on, no avoiding the subject. Tell me." She insisted.

"Okay fine. But this is really embarrassing." He started. "If was after a triple shift. Her and I had been working together through the whole case and I ended up falling asleep at my desk…" He paused, not wanting to continue.

"And?" She urged.

"And well I had a dream about Catherine, one that required me to have to take a shower and change my clothes." He said humiliated.

Laughing hysterically, she squeezed his hand, as she shook in her seat.

"So come on details. Where was it? How was it? Come on, I'm dying here." She begged.

"Oh God, I have no idea why I'm telling you this. She came in to my office and started giving me a massage, and then one thing led to another and we ended up…you know…on my desk." He said shyly and in a very low, almost inaudible voice.

"Oh. My. God." She said as she broke out laughing again. "Well, how was she?" she asked through tears of laughter.

"I'm not answering that!" he said sternly.

"Oh come on! Was she better than me?" She asked, stifling her laughter.

"No." He said simply. Staring out the windshield and gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.

"Aw. So, did you tell her?"

"What! No! She would have killed me!" He exclaimed, making her laughter return. "I'm glad you find this all so amusing."

"I'm sorry, it's just, we've had sex on your desk. And now every time I look at it that's all I'm going to think about." She said in hysterics.

"Yeah. Thanks." He said mortified.

"Well at least I now know why you spend so much time in your office." She taunted.

"Shut up! What about you? Surely you've had some fantasy at the lab." He said, trying to flip the attention to her.

"Oh yeah, tons." She said plainly.

"What!?" He said, not feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well, there's this one guy at the lab that I would always think about. Him surprising me in the shower room, or the layout room table, the couch in the break room, several different crime scenes, your office, the simulation tank…" She said as she remembered all the different fantasies.

"Oh." He said glumly as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and clenched his teeth together.

"Yeah. You should see this guy. He's quite a catch. I probably shouldn't say this, but…" She said lowering her voice to a whisper as she leaned over to his ear. "He's my boss." She said as she placed a light kiss on his cheek before returning to her seat.

Relief instantly washed over him, followed by a grin.

"I think he has similar fantasies about you." He stated with a smile as he released his death grip on the wheel.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

"GUYS!" Brass yelled as he ran into the layout room where the team was sitting, had been sitting for the last hour since returning from breakfast.

"Brass, what is it? You look like you just ran a marathon." Warrick teased, taking in the man's disheveled appearance.

"The call just came in, another couple has been attacked." He said in one breath. Before he could even finish everyone was gathering their things in a hurry and they all ran out the door.

"I want everyone on head sets. If you see him, let everyone know who and where. Understood?" Brass ordered as they all ran out of the building.

Everyone nodded or mumbled something in the affirmative as they entered the car park and piled into Catherine Denali and Brass took the lead in his car.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

The farmer's market was a lot busier than they had expected, which elicited a fear in Sara of losing Grissom in the crowd, so they walked hand in hand in a vice-like grip. They got more than they needed, but it was worth it, making Sara smile guiltily when she realized how much they had bought. But they had a good time.

Stopping off at a little deli, they ordered some sandwiches and some chips and waters and packed it up to take with them to Lake Mead for later.

The bookshop was not as she had thought it would be, it was better. Her eyes widened as soon as she entered into the shop. Shelves lined every inch of the store, from floor to ceiling covered in books. Every kid of book you could ever possibly think of. The placed was family owned and operated, run by an elderly couple, and their son and daughter-in-law ran the coffee shop next door. After an hour of searching Grissom smiled excitedly, pulling a set of books from the shelf and sticking them behind his back. Unable to go and pay for them without Sara seeing, as she was permanently attached to his hand, he settled for just surprises her now. She was standing next to him looking through an old, restored book, intrigued by the quality of it.

"Hey Sar," He started, getting a little of her attention.

"Hmm?" She answered without looking away from the book in her hands.

"I think I found something you'll like." He said with a huge grin plastered across his face.

Turning slightly to look at him briefly she smiled and asked,

"What?" before turning back to the book in her hands.

"How about a first edition of Works of Edgar Allen Poe, Tales and Poems." He said excitedly.

Not completely listening to him, it took a few moments before the words sunk in and she slammed the book shut in her hand and slowly turned her head to him with a smile spread from ear to ear.

"No way." She said dubiously.

Taking no time, he pulled the book from behind his back and presented it to her. She practically shrieked and jumped into his arms. Over a year of searching for it, and they finally had found it. It was quite a invigorating feeling.

They spent about another hour in the store leaving with several selections. Sara even bought a book on Rape Trauma Syndrome and Incest Survivors, so that she could better understand what she was feeling and how to work through it. Grissom was very proud of her being able to acknowledge that she needed help by herself, and seeking that help, even if it was just with a book. It was another step in the right direction. Grissom bought some bug books and a new (old) cookbook for vegetarian meals, which Sara was very excited about. He was a great cook unlike her who ended up swimming in a vat of flour whenever she attempted to cook anything. Grissom had always enjoyed when she attempted to cook something. She would end up covered in every one of the ingredients and would get frustrated at spilling things all over her clothes that she would just strip down in the kitchen and try again. It was quite the sight in the Grissom-Sidle household. And on most occasions, the meal would be soon forgotten, as he would start to lick the ingredients off her body.

Finally, they were off to have their picnic at the lake. Both were getting hungry and they wanted to watch the sunset over the lake. Carefully they walked through the path to get to 'their' spot by the tree that Grissom had carved their initials in a heart on the trunk on their third 'official' date two years ago. Looking up Grissom got a little disappointed.

"Look's like rain." He said saddened.

"Good." Sara replied, tugging on his hand to pull him closer to her.

"Good? Why do you love the rain so much?" He asked. Ever since they met all those years ago in San Francisco, she has had a strange liking for the rain. He knew that their was a reason, a personal reason, behind it, but never asked.

"Well, when I was little, things would always get really bad during the rain, something about the rain bringing misery, but I always knew that no matter how bad the rain got, no matter how bad the fighting got, the rain would eventually end and bring a rainbow in it's place. A new beginning, a fresh start. It was as if when the rain left, it would take all the pain and horrors with it. So I actually looked forward to it. Still do." She explained, leaning in to Grissom as they walked.

"Well that makes sense. Well in which case I hope that rain comes too, so that you can get your rainbow." He said genuinely.

She smiled to him as they reached their spot. As always, call it tradition, she, before anything else, went to the tree and traced the letters and hearts with her fingers.

"Why do you always do that?" Grissom asked, truly trying to understand her better.

"Do what?" She asked turning back to him and grapping the blanket with him.

"Trace the letters every time we come here." He said, as they opened up the blanket and spread it out on the ground.

"I don't know. I guess I just like to remember that night. I mean, when you asked me out, I was hesitant, afraid that you would push me away again, but that night, I don't know, it's like I knew that this would be forever. I mean come on; Gil Grissom doesn't just carve love pacts on trees everyday. It was the night I let my self love you again without reservation. That was a magical night for me." She explained, a loving smile in her eyes as she sat down on the blanket.

"It was for me too. And that was the night that I realized that there's no need to run anymore, because you were here and you were all I wanted." He said as he laid back and she followed, resting her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: In the Neighborhood

**Chapter Fourteen: In the Neighborhood**

Upon arriving at the scene, everyone was suited up with headsets in place, each with the photo collage of the suspect. The dayshift CSI team was called in to process the scene so that the Nightshift could focus strictly on the crowds. Exiting the vehicle they all disbursed throughout the perimeter of the scene, cautiously scanning the crowds.

"Anybody got anything?" Catherine asked into her head set to Warrick, Nick and Greg as they all searched the scene.

"East line is clear." Nick sounded.

"Nothing on the West." Warrick added.

"North side…nothing. Wait!" Greg said as he walked closer to the crime scene tape, trying to be inconspicuous. "False alarm." He said disappointed.

"Damn it! Cath?" Warrick asked.

"South line is clear."

After a long pause, Nick interrupted the silence.

"Guys…Potential suspect East line. Blue jeans, green shirt, blue baseball cap."

"Okay, Nick don't take your eyes off of him. Greg go around. Block him off from behind, Warrick take the south and I'll take the north. Announce when in position." Catherine instructed.

About a minute went by before everyone was in position, guns drawn and at the ready.

"Back escape is secure." Greg sounded.

"South is a go." Warrick added.

"North is covered." Catherine finished.

"Everyone have visual?" Nick asked.

"I see him." Greg said.

"I got him in my sights." Warrick confirmed.

"Yeah, I see the smug bastard." Catherine added, feelings of disgust sinking to her stomach at finally having the bastard in her sights. "Brass, come in." Catherine radioed.

"This is Brass, go ahead." Brass added in to the mix.

"We're in position surrounding the suspect. Male. Caucasian. Mid to late ten's. Brown hair. Approximately six feet. Blue jeans. Green shirt. Blue baseball cap. Standing center on the East line." She alerted.

"I have visual. Slow and steady guys." He ordered.

"For Sara." Greg announced as he took a hesitant step forward.

"Okay everyone move in!" Brass commanded.

With guns raised everyone moved in on the suspect who didn't even see them coming, too fixated with watching the scene of pain in front of him.

"FREEZE! Las Vegas Police! Puts your hands in the air!" Brass yelled as everyone surrounded the man with guns pointed at his head. They weren't taking chances.

Hesitantly and looking slightly confused, the man raised his arms into the air as they were joined by several other officers.

"What's your name?" Catherine ordered.

"Chris. Chris Karlson." He said nervously. Looking to each person with a gun pointed at him.

"What's your reason for being here Mr. Karlson?" Brass asked.

"Uh, Uh….I...uh…I was just in the neighborhood. I saw the police. You know, I got…uh…curious." He stuttered.

"Yeah well you know what they say about curiosity." Greg mumbled.

"Am I covered?" Brass asked the other officers who nodded in the affirmative, their guns also raised at the man.

Cautiously, Brass patted the man down, pulling a gun from the man's waistband.

"My, my, my. What do we have here? What's the gun for Mr. Karlson?" He asked, holding up the gun with a latex glove while Catherine holstered her weapon and pulled out an evidence bag for him to drop it in.

The man just stayed silent. Silence is guilt.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Brass said, taking the man's arm and cuffing his wrists. "You are under arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm. Among other things." Brass said pushing him to the car.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Catherine turned back to the boys, who still had their weapons drawn.

"Guys! We got him. It's okay." She said, pushing their guns down, casting them back to reality.

"Are we still needed here? Cause I would like nothing more than to get back to lab and bury that sick fuck in evidence to make sure he never sees the light of day again!" Nick said, with an anger her didn't know he could possess.

"Yeah. Let's get back to the lab. You did good guys." Catherine affirmed.

"Are we going to tell Sara?" Greg asked a little awkwardly.

"I think we should wait until DNA and prints come back so there's no doubt first." Warrick recommended.

"I agree." Catherine finished as they all climbed back into the car.

"If it's okay with you Cath, I'd like to run the DNA myself." Greg asked bitterly.

"You are the guru of DNA Greg. I don't think that should be a problem as long as Jacqui is with you as a witness. We know that a defense attorney would rip that apart." Catherine answered.

"Thanks Catherine." He said, easing back in to their seat.

They all just rode in silence on the way back to the lab.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

Brass took much joy in arresting Chris Karlson for the possession charge. It was a meager arrest, but it came with him getting printed. He rushed the ten-card to Mandy in the print lab before the ink was even dry. As it was they didn't have enough to arrest him for the rapes yet. Not without matching the prints first.

Walking into the layout room in a pleasant mood, he smiled and held up a piece of paper for the team to see.

"We've got a warrant for his DNA based on Sara and Grissom's photo match. Who'd like to do the honors?" He asked waving the paper in front of them.

"Greg." Warrick said, causing everyone to look at him. Greg was only a CSI Level one, so they were all a little confused. "We wouldn't even be here right now if Greg had devised this master plan. He should do it. But I'm voting that we all go. A little intimidation is always nice." He finished with a grin.

Everyone smiled at Greg who looked like he had just received a compliment from the founder of DNA itself.

"I think that's an excellent idea. Greggo grab your kit." Catherine said proudly.

Without a second's hesitation, Greg nodded and smiled in appreciation as he grabbed his kit, Nick patting his back as they walked out the door.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

Opening the door to the interrogation room, four seemingly pissed off CSI's and one detective walked through the door.

"Mr. Karlson, my name is Catherine Willows, you may recognize me from having a gun pointed at your head and these are my CSI's. Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders. That's Detective Jim Brass, but I believe that you have already met him, and we have a warrant to take your DNA." She said taking control of the room.

Warrick and Nick stood against the wall with their arms crossed over their chests, fixing the man with their death stares. Brass took the seat across from Karlson's attorney. Catherine leaned on the table with her palms flat on the surface next to Brass and across from Karlson, while Greg stood at the end of the table opening his kit and taking out a swab.

"I have to say I'm pretty impressed. Usually people leave behind no evidence to keep us guessing, but you did the exact opposite. You left yourself everywhere, knowing that you weren't in the system. But see you made one big mistake." Pausing to gauge the man's reaction. When he looked up from Greg's kit and looked into her eyes questioningly, she continued. "You messed with the wrong people." She said, taking out the photos of Grissom and Sara from their attack and sliding them across the table. Even the lawyer flinched. "You see you made the mistake of attacking a CSI. Our CSI's. That doesn't get taken lightly around here. And as soon as Greg here runs your DNA and your fingerprints are matched, you will find yourself behind bars for the rest of your life. If you're lucky." She said with a self-satisfied smirk.

The look of fear that flashed across the man's face was priceless.

"Open." Greg said, holding out the swab to Karlson's mouth.

Reluctantly he obeyed and opened his mouth, letting Greg swab the inside of his cheek.

"So tell me Mr. Karlson, does it make you feel powerful raping women while their significant other watches?" Catherine questioned.

Again, silence.

"What's the matter? Were you jealous of them, because they were able to have a successful relationship?" She asked as she started pulling out photos of all the other victims. "The first victims, Caitlyn Rogers and Max Welton. Nice couple. Cute house, getting married in the fall, white picket fence, golden retriever, the whole bit. Very happy." She said sliding the photos of them across the table as Greg exited the room with his kit and the sample.

Taking his part, Nick moved in with his own file and took out a set of photos.

"Victims three and four. Kristen and Mike Gardner. Preschool teacher and small business owner. Married three years. Perfect marriage from what we can tell. Summer vacations around the world. Thinking about having kids soon. Also a very nice couple." He said, putting those pictures on the table.

Even his public defender had nothing to say. Warrick now pulling his file, to out a photo of Grissom and Sara, not of their attack but the one of them at the amusement park that they had blown up to an 8xten printout.

"Victims five and six. Sara Sidle and Dr. Gil Grissom. CSI Level three and CSI Supervisor and entomologist. Together two years now. Have known each other for over a decade. Moved in together last spring. Spend every minute they can together. We never even knew, but you know what? They are truly the happiest couple I have ever met." He said, placing the picture of the happy couple on the table.

"Victims seven and 8. Courtney and Jason Allens. Together since high school. Retired Marine and housewife. Expecting their first grandchild in July." Brass continued, placing their picture with the others.

"Victims 9 and ten. Elizabeth Teager and Al Johnston." Catherine said, continuing with the photos. "Victims eleven and twelve. Tiffany and Kevin Bouchard. Victims thirteen and fourteen. Tara Cladshaw and Jonathon Myers. And finally victims fifteen and sixteen. Bonnie and Jeff Picello." She said, slamming the last photo down in front of Karlson.

Taking out a different set of photos, Nick moved to the table.

"You see Mr. Karlson, we have photos of you at every single crime scene. Were you just 'in the neighborhood' for all the other attacks as well?" He said slamming each of the pictures down on the table. "What's the matter Mr. Karlson? Trying to find an excuse?"

"Don't say anything Mr. Karlson." His lawyer finally spoke. "Unless you have any actual evidence linking my client to these attacks, I'm ending this interview." He said sternly.

"That's fine. We have still have him on the weapons charge. He'll be in a holding cell when the DNA and prints come back. And something tells me that he'll be seeing a lot more of the inside of a cell after that." Brass said, standing up.

"Oh, and we'll be processing you. Warrant." Nick said with a smile, waving another piece of paper at him.

Quickly reviewing the paper, his lawyer nodded to him.

"Court ordered. You have no choice." He told him.

Taking out their kits and snapping on their latex gloves, Catherine, Nick and Warrick took great pride in processing this bastard.

"Hat." Catherine said, taking the hat off the man's head and placing it into an evidence bag, labeling it.

"Remove your shirt." Warrick demanded as Nick rolled out a large white piece of paper to collect any trace evidence that may fall.

"No way." Karlson finally spoke.

"Well, either you can take it off, or I can. Your choice." Warrick replied opening a brown paper bag for the shirt.

Reluctantly, he did as he was told, pulling the shirt up and over his head, revealing several scratches on his arms and torso.

"Why do I want to bet that we'll be able to match DNA from those scratches to the victims?" Nick stated.

"I'd say that's a fair bet." Brass remarked, as Warrick placed the shirt into the brown bad and handed it off to Catherine for her to label.

"Put your arms out to the sides." Nick instructed him, putting his camera up to his eye to photograph the different scratches on the man's body.

Once the photos were taken, Warrick moved in with swabs for each wound, not so delicately rubbing them against the open flesh and handing them off to Catherine who was meticulously labeling each piece of evidence collected.

"Hands out." Nick demanded as Warrick continued with the scratches.

Hesitantly, the man did, and Brass held a white sheet of paper under his hand as Nick scraped under his finger nails. Repeating the process on each hand.

Upon finishing swabbing the grazes on Karlson, Warrick gave the last swab to Catherine and looked at the man's feet.

"Shoes please. Right one first." Nick asked with a bag opened and ready.

Kneeling down the man untied his sneaker and pulled it off, handing it to Nick.

"Left." Nick asked.

"This is ridiculous." Karlson huffed as he removed the other shoe and handed it off.

"Uh, no. What's ridiculous is you raping eight women and assaulting them and their partner." Nick countered in disgust.

Handing the bag off to Catherine who labeled and sealed it, he moved back to his kit while Warrick took over again.

"Pants." He said simply to Karlson.

"What?!" Karlson exclaimed.

"Oh come on Karlson, we all know you're not shy." Catherine retorted.

Sighing and fixing them all with a nasty stare, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and let them fall to the paper covered floor, stepping out of them in a huff.

"This is harassment!" He yelled, standing in only his boxer shorts.

"Oh, you don't know harassment. But don't worry, they love rapists in prison. I'm sure you'll somebody will have a lot of fun with you." Brass answered with a devious smile.

The man's face immediately dropped in terror of the life that awaits him in prison.

"What's wrong Chrissy? You can dish it but you can't…take…it." Brass added.

After another half hour or so of processing the suspect, they were finally ready to head back to the lab to analyze. Leaving Mr. Karlson with his lovely orange jumpsuit and an elegant stay in county lockup.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Dance with Me

**Chapter Fifteen: Dance with Me**

"This is really nice. Thanks for convincing me to go out today." Sara said as she leaned against Grissom while taking another bite of her egg salad sandwich.

"I'm glad you're having a good time. I am too." He replied kissing her cheek before steeling her sandwich out of her hands and taking a bite.

"Hey!" She yelled, stealing it back and smacking playfully on the arm. "I told you to get two sandwiches for yourself, that you would be hungry, but no. You never believe me!" She explained mock-serious.

Despite her intentions of keeping a playful, light mood, her mention of him not believing her brought back the guilt of him not taking her seriously about her thinking something bad was going to happen. His face instantly went pale as he got lost in his own thoughts.

After several minutes without any sound from him, Sara turned around to see his distant expression.

"Griss? Baby, you okay?" She asked placing her hand on his. "You know I was just kidding right, you can have some of my sandwich."

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I guess I just spaced out." He said, snapping back to reality at the sound of her troubled voice.

"Are you alright?" She asked, still not fully at ease.

"I'm fine." He said with a smile, pulling her close.

Placing a kiss on her forehead and letting his lips linger for a moment, basking in the feel of her, he felt something else.

Rain.

"It's raining." Sara whispered as she turned to look up at the cloudy sky.

"Do you want to go?" He asked also looking up at the darkened sky.

"No. Let's stay." She said smiling as the rain grew harder and fell onto her face, washing the pain from her mind.

"Okay, but…" He started, rising to his feet.

Extending his hand down to her, she thought he never looked so amazing. Standing there in the pouring rain, his clothing sticking to his body and his curls dripping from his head. It was an incredible sight.

"Dance with me?" He asked with a warm smile directed at her.

Smiling back at him, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her stand. There was no music, but it was hardly the first time they had danced without music. They could always hear it in their minds, and somehow they both always had the same tune because they always danced in perfect harmony.

She wrapped her frail arms around his neck as she stepped closer, pressing her fragile body against his, letting him to wrap his arms around her torso, and holding onto her back. Together they swayed and circled in sync with the imaginary music as the rain washed all around them.

"What do you say we go on a vacation somewhere? Anywhere." Grissom suggested.

"A vacation? Like what normal people do?" She asked skeptically.

"Yes, what normal people do. You know, hotel, brochures, tour guides, no cell phones, no computers, no work, just you and me, vacation."

"Oh is that what a vacation is? Sounds…fascinating." She said with a true Sidle Smile.

"Mmm." He said spinning her, before pulling her back to him. "So what do think?"

"Well, yeah I guess. I've never actually been on a vacation before, so bare with me, this is new territory for me." She said awkwardly.

"Never? You've never gone on a vacation?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah. You know what my childhood was like. It wasn't exactly filled with family road trips and lines at Disney Land, and then foster families don't exactly put vacations on the to do list, and then I went to college, working three jobs just to pay my tuition and when I finally graduated I started at the Frisco Crime Lab and just never really got the chance, not that I would have had anyone to go with, and then I came here. The closest to a vacation I've ever had was when you made me take a month off after my DUI, but all I really did was hang around the house, go to flee markets and such." She explained.

"Well than. I'm just going to have to make this the best vacation possible." He laughed.

"I guess so. So where are you taking me?" She asked as they kept dancing in the rain.

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?" He asked spinning her again.

"Hmm. I don't know. What about a cruise? I always love watching the commercials for that Carnival Cruise Line. Everything looks so fun and exciting." She said with a look of excitement.

"I think that sounds like a great idea. What do you say we pack up this stuff and head back and we can look at some different options online before everyone gets there for dinner? Plus, I don't want you getting a cold from standing out in the rain."

"Sounds good." She said kissing his cheek before pulling away to fold up the soaked blanket.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Good and Bad

**Chapter Sixteen: Good and Bad**

"HEY! GET IN HERE!!" Greg yelled out the door of the DNA lab across the hall to the layout room where the rest of the team was sifting through evidence.

"What?!" They all said running into the room.

"Okay. First of all, his fingernail scrapings and scratches, I matched epithelial's and traces of blood to Sara, Grissom, Courtney Allens, and a large sample from both Picello's. There were other samples but there wasn't enough to be able to run a comparison. But I ran his DNA and…drum roll please." He paused, "Fine don't indulge me! I matched his DNA to every single attack! Boo-yeah! We got him guys, we got him!" Greg exclaimed jumping up and down.

Everyone jumped in excitement and relief, hugging each other and praising Greg for his good work.

"This is excellent. We'll actually be able to give Grissom and Sara some good news tonight." Catherine said.

"I'll call Brass." Warrick said as he stepped out of the room and Mandy stepped in.

"Hey guys. I have the results for you on Sara's rape case." She said handing the sheet to Catherine.

"Matching one Mr. Christopher Henry Karlson." Catherine said with a thrilled smile holding up the paper for everyone.

"Oh Mandy! I could kiss you!" Nick exclaimed.

"Hey I got the DNA! Why don't I get a kiss?" Greg said mock-disappointed.

Everyone laughed and Jacqui came up beside him and placed a light kiss on his cheek.

"I'm more of a DNA kind of gal myself." She said as she walked out of the room with Mandy.

"She wants me." Greg said with a smile as he placed his hands over his heart and pretended to faint.

"Wait, I thought Sara wanted you?" Nick asked, laughing at the sight of a love-struck Greg.

"She does. I told you, they all come running back. What can I say…I'm irresistible." He said, his ego getting the best of him.

"Yeah, okay." Catherine said breaking his self righteous rant.

"Brass just arrested him on sixteen counts of assault, 8 counts of rape, 8 counts of breaking and entering, illegal possession of a firearm and felony stupid." Warrick stated as he came back in to the room. "He's not going to be seeing the outside of a prison cell for a very long time, if at all."

"He's definitely felony stupid." Greg mumbled.

"We need to call Grissom and Sara." Warrick said glumly.

"We were just going to tell them at dinner." Nick told him.

"No, they need to come down. The DA is having Brass bring in all the victims for a line up." He reiterated.

"We can't do that to her! You saw how she reacted with a photo! We can't do that to them again!" Greg shouted, his guilt from forcing Sara into doing his plan coming out clearly in every word.

"Greg, we don't have a choice. She needs to make a positive ID." Catherine told him calmly, taking his arms in her hands.

"What about all the evidence? We have plenty of evidence! You guys are always saying that it's better to have once piece of evidence than ten eyewitnesses." He said, his emotions getting the best of him.

"I know Greg, but, we need to make sure that this case is air tight. We don't want him getting off for something stupid. If it's too much for her, we'll stop." She assured him.

Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle, he reluctantly nodded and walked out of the room.

"Poor Greg man, he's keeps beating himself up about Sara having that flashback. I mean it wasn't his fault. He didn't know that she would react that way." Warrick said watching Greg storm down the hall.

"I did." Catherine confessed.

Turning to face her, both Nick and Warrick exchanged a look of confusion before asking,

"What?"

"I knew that she suffered from flashbacks. Gil told me about it. That's how he found out about her father. She flashed back during an argument. I just didn't realize that just seeing a photo would trigger one so strong. From what Grissom told me, it was just bits and pieces and not an entire event playing out." She explained.

"So what happens now? I mean Greg's right; we can't let her go through that again." Nick said sympathetically.

"Well, we don't have a choice. Our hands are tied by the DA. We have to see this as any other case, any other victim. We can't let our personal feelings get in the way of procedure." Catherine advised.

"Doesn't make it any easier." Warrick said finally.

"I'll call him. Maybe he can prepare her." Catherine said walking out of the room sadly.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

Helping Sara into the passenger seat, Grissom walked around and hopped in next to her, turning the car on and starting the heat so that Sara wouldn't freeze. With the car still in park, he leaned back over the seats to the back and grabbed another blanket, a dry one, and draped it over Sara. Trying and failing miserably to stifle a yawn, Sara leaned back into the seat.

"Why don't you take a nap? It's going to be a while before we get home in this weather." He told her, tucking the blanket in around her and taking her hand in his.

"Yeah, okay. You won't let go of me though, right?" She asked panicked.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He said with a smile as he kissed her cheek and moved back to the steering wheel.

About fifteen minutes into the ride home, Sara had fallen asleep and Grissom was enjoying the sounds of her breathing. That is until his phone began ringing, waking Sara.

"Hmm?" She mumbled groggily.

"Releasing her hand for a minute, but placing hers on his leg so she could still feel him, he picked up his phone from the cup holder and read the caller ID. 'Catherine' Looking back to Sara who was struggling to keep her eyes open, he smiled.

"Go back to sleep honey, it's just Catherine." He said flipping open the phone and raising it to his ear.

"Hello." He said fixing his eyes on the wet road in front of him.

"Hey Gil. I have some news." Catherine replied.

"News? What kind of news?" He asked quietly.

"Well good and bad. We caught him." She said excitedly.

"Oh thank God." He said sighing a breath of relief. "Wait, what's wrong?" He asked realizing that there's a bad news.

"The DA is requesting for you and Sara to pick him out of a line up." She said disgruntled.

"I don't know Cath. I don't know if I can put her through that again." He said protectively.

"I know, I wish you didn't have to, but the DA is demanding it." She said understandingly.

"Well what about other evidence? What about…" He started, his voice rising a bit.

"Gil, you know I can't discuss the case with you. All I can tell you is that if you want to make sure this guy never sees the outside of a prison cell again, you'll do the lineup." She recommended.

"Well we're about an hour away from the lab. Let me talk to her first. We'll meet you at the lab." He said reluctantly.

"I'm sorry Gil." She said sincerely before hanging up the phone.

"Griss?" Sara mumbled as she woke herself up.

"Hey baby." He said, putting the phone in the cup holder and taking her hand.

"What did Catherine want?" She said sleepily.

"They have a suspect in custody." He said uneasily.

"What?!" She said, a bolt of energy rushing through her as she sat forward.

"Sara…the DA wants you to…" He said, but couldn't get himself to say it. He was afraid of what this would do to her. And if he was completely honest, he was afraid of the result it would have on him. He had been terrified the night before when she went in to that flashback.

"What? Griss? What?" She asked, getting a little frightened by his avoidance.

"They want you to try and pick him out of a lineup." He said, shooting her a caring glance.

She went silent and looked away from him, staring out at the rain falling on the windshield, lost in thought.

"What if I don't want to?" She asked as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Then they can't force you, but…"

"But the case wouldn't be as strong." She finished for him.

"Yeah. Your ID could really help the case, but if you don't want to honey, I won't let them try to force you." He said sternly.

"But if I do pick him out, he'll never be able to come back right? He'll never be able to hurt you again?" She asked scared.

"I certainly hope so honey. But this is up to you. And no matter what you choose, I'll support you all the way, and I won't let anyone make you uncomfortable about your decision.

After a long breath, she looked up to him and upon seeing the bruises on his face, knew her answer.

"I'll do it." She said with passion.

"Sara…"

"No, Griss. I'll do it. I couldn't live with myself if he were ever able to hurt you again. So if it means me having to pick him out of a line up to keep you safe and him locked away forever, there's no question about it." She explained.

He couldn't argue with that. That's why he, too, was going to do the lineup. To keep her safe, and set her mind at ease. Raising her hand to his face he placed a kiss to her knuckles.

"Will you be there?" She asked nervously.

"I have to pick him out too. I don't know if they'll let me be with you in the room, but…"

"No, Griss. I can't do it without you with me. Please." She said as she started breathing heavily in a panic.

"I'll pull some strings." He said reassuringly, effectively calming her.

**8888888888888888888888888888888**

An hour later they arrived at the Crime Lab and clutching her hand tightly, Grissom led her into the building.

"Why don't we get your spare clothes from your locker first?" Grissom suggested as he took in her sopping wet white t-shirt. On any other day he would have marveled at the opportunity to see her walking through the lab like she was involved in a wet t-shirt contest, but not now.

Looking down at her appearance, she leaned in closer to Grissom to try and hide herself as much as possible.

"Yeah. You too."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Girl Talk

**Chapter Seventeen: Girl Talk**

Walking into the locker room, Sara quickly took a seat on the bench in between the lockers as Grissom quickly changed his clothes.

"You okay?" He asked, curious of her distant expression and lack of movement.

"Yeah. Just worried I guess. You'll talk to Brass?" She asked as he took a seat beside her.

"How about I call Catherine in here to help you change out of these wet clothes and I'll go talk to Brass now?" He offered.

"Okay. Just hurry back." She said fretfully.

"Don't worry baby. I'm in the Police Department. I think I'll be safe. But I promise I'll come right back." He said kissing her forehead as he unclipped his cell phone from his belt and pressed a speed dial number.

"Willows." She answered.

"Hey Cath, it's Gil." He replied back as Sara leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder, fearing what this lineup would bring.

"Hey. Are you coming in?" She asked as she worked through some trace results on their case.

"We're actually here already. We're in the locker room. I need to ask a favor." He said as he wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulders.

"Sure, anything."

"I need to go speak with Brass for a minute, but Sara is soaked from the rain and…" He started.

"Say no more. I'll be in there…" She said as she walked down the hall. Opening the door to the locker room she stepped in and closed her phone. "Now." She said with a smile before taking in Sara and Grissom's drenched clothing. "Jeez. I didn't know it was raining that hard."

"It's not. We just stood in it for a while. Well, danced in it actually." Grissom replied with a smirk.

"Yeah. You guys are weird." Catherine said bluntly walking over to Sara's locker where she found a spare set of clothes. "Come on lady, let's get you dry." She with a new found energy, a pleasant one, which they could only assume was because their attacker had finally been caught.

Smiling a little at Catherine, Sara turned back to Grissom with hesitant eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in a few minutes. Just stay with Catherine, okay?" He told her, trying to keep her at ease.

"Okay. Love you." She whispered as he pulled her into a hug.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

The whole display made Catherine want to cry. As Grissom stood he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. And then as he started to walk out the door he didn't release her hand until their arms were fully outstretched. Catherine had known Grissom for almost as long as Sara had, worked by his side almost everyday of that time, but seeing Grissom with Sara was like seeing a completely different person. He was…well…human. Everyone always joked that he was a robot, had no emotions or feelings, an enigma, but seeing how he was with her was strange. It threw that whole theory out the window. He had just never been in the position to show real emotion before Sara.

Smiling she grabbed Sara's clothes in one hand and reached for Sara's hand with the other, guiding her to the small showering room where there was privacy.

"You know, I still can't get over the fact that you two have been having this relationship for two years now, that you live together, and none of us ever figured it out." Catherine said as she carefully helped Sara off with her shirt, revealing the soaked bandages below.

"We were careful. Kept our personal life separate from work for the most part." Sara answered, shivering from the air conditioning hitting her cold body.

"Theses bandages are soaked. Do you have any more with you?" Catherine asked, draping a towel over Sara's shoulders to block against the cold air.

"No, we weren't exactly planning on a trip to the lab." Sara said with a little sarcasm. "It should be fine if I just take the bandages off for now. Griss can put new ones on when we get home." Sara said as Catherine began peeling the tape and soggy gauze off her wounds, causing them to sting a bit.

"Sorry. I'm glad you're feeling more comfortable around him." Catherine said as she started with the gauze stretching across Sara's neck from where the knife cut her.

"Me too. I guess I just realized that no matter what happened or what he thinks, he did keep me safe and he always will and that he is still the one person I trust more than anyone." She said with a contortion.

"I'm glad. Now tell me about this keeping the personal stuff out of the office…'for the most part.'" Catherine teased removing yet another gauze pad.

"Well, after working a triple and not really see each other for a week, when an opportunity arose…" She said with a guilty expression, biting her bottom lip to control her laughter.

"Oh. My. God. You're bad." She said laughing at the thought of Sara and Grissom doing the dirty in the lab. "Please tell me where so I know where to never spray luminal." She teased.

"Well I'm not sure why you would need to spray luminal on his desk, but okay." Sara quipped.

"On no! His desk! I'm going to start wearing gloves to handle my paperwork from now on!" Catherine said mock-disgusted, teasing Sara.

"You should have heard what he told me about a fantasy he had about you." Sara said pursing her lips together to avoid laughing hysterically at the thought.

"WHAT!?" She asked, halting all movement.

Sara just smiled and shrugged.

Catherine finished taking off all the bandages and dried her off a bit with another towel before helping her redress in dry clothes, continuing talking about Grissom the entire time, until they heard the locker door open and Grissom's voice carry through to the shower room where Catherine was towel drying Sara's hair.

"Sara?" Grissom called, not finding her in the immediate facility of the locker room.

"We're in here Gil." Catherine called from the adjoining room.

"Can I come in?" He yelled, not wanting to enter a girl's showering room without permission.

"Yeah, we're all done." Catherine replied, finishing with Sara's hair and throwing the towels into the provided bin.

Stepping into the small room, Grissom couldn't help but smile at the two ladies, until he saw the protruding lacerations coming from the collar of her shirt up her neck.

"Sara? Where are your bandages?" He asked frantically moving forward to examine her wounds.

"Honey it's okay. They were all wet, so we took them off for now. We can replace them when we get home." She instructed him, trying to calm down his protective nature a bit.

"Don't worry Gil. As long as she doesn't go rolling around in the mud or douse herself with some strange concoction from your office, she'll be fine." Catherine reassured as she stepped back into the locker room to give them a minute together.

"Did you talk to Brass?" She asked concerned.

"Yeah, the DA has agreed to let me go in with you, but instead of just saying which guy we have to write the number down. I guess the guys explained what happened when you saw his picture, so they understand." He explained, taking her hands.

"I'm scared." She said, leaning into his chest.

"I know. Me too." He said releasing her hands to wrap his around her now warm body.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Pick a Number

**Chapter Eighteen: Pick a Number**

"Okay, so here's how it's going to work, Gil you can go in with her but you cannot speak to each other. His lawyer, the DA and myself will be in there with you. If you recognize the man, write down his number on the paper, fold it and give to the DA. Take your time. If you need them to step closer or want to hear them say something or need them to turn, just say what you need and I'll instruct them to do so. Don't guess. If you don't see him or you're not sure, say so. It's better to have no ID than a false ID. Try not to worry, judging by how quickly you both picked out the guy in the crime scene photos, you'll be fine. Sara, if this is too much just say so and we'll stop. Okay?" Brass explained to them.

"Thanks Brass." Sara replied nervously and wide-eyed.

"You're going to do fine. Listen to Brass, if you feel like you can't do it once you get in there, just say so and we'll leave okay?" Grissom told her, fearing for her.

"Let's do it." She said putting on a brave face looking from Grissom to Brass.

"Okay kiddo, just remember, if you need anything you let me know." Brass said as he opened to the door the observation room, where the DA and Karlson's attorney were already situated.

Brass led them in and instantly Sara's grip tightened on Grissom's hand. Both men ushered Sara to the one-way mirror.

"You ready kiddo?" Brass asked as they picked up the pens in front of them.

Nodding to Brass, she squeezed tightly on Grissom's hand and looked straight ahead into the adjoining room.

"Bring 'em in." Brass said through the intercom.

Following Brass' orders, the officer in the other room opened the door and in walked six men, all similar in bodily characteristics, each with a number strung around their necks. Normally for a line up, they would use the suspect and several officers, but given that both Sara and Grissom know almost all the officers they had to call in some guys for favors.

Once all the men had filed into the room and took their positions staring at the window, they both began examining each person from one end of the room to other, when suddenly Sara's pen touched paper as her eyes grew wide and her body began to shake. Before anyone could do anything, Sara collapsed to the floor.

"Sara!" Grissom yelled as he dove to the ground to hold her. "Sara! Sara…" He kept saying, patting her cheeks.

"Get them out of here!" Brass yelled through the intercom.

"Well I guess she couldn't do it." Karlson's new lawyer, a bitch, said smugly.

"Not so fast!" Brass said, retrieving the paper from where Sara had written a single digit before fainting. "Here you go."

"Here!" Grissom said throwing his own paper at the lawyer with a vengeance, before turning back to Sara. "Sara, baby, come on, wake up. Wake up Sweetie."

The DA opened the two pieces of paper and read both. 'four' Which was, in fact, Chris Karlson. Walking out of the room with Karlson's lawyer, he said simply. "Four. Look's like your client is going away for a long time. Just wait until the rest of the victims get here."

"Is she alright?" Catherine yelled running into the room. She had been waiting outside the whole time and when she heard Grissom yelling, she got scared.

"She fainted. Sara? Honey, come on. It's okay." He said, and finally receiving a soft response, so low he had to lean down to hear her.

"Did we get him?"

"Yeah baby, we got him. We got him." He cried pulling her towards him in a fierce hug.

"You did good Sara. You did good." Brass said, patting her lightly on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you off the floor. I told you, no rolling in the mud!" Catherine said sarcastically, helping Grissom and Sara stand.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: Surprise

**Chapter Nineteen: Surprise**

Six weeks after the ID on Chris Karlson, things were starting to return to normal. Sara and Grissom were returning to work the next week under a new supervisory plan put in place by Catherine to make sure they were safe in their jobs. Catherine was going to be co-supervising nightshift with her as Sara's direct supervisor as well as Greg, while Grissom had Warrick and Nick. It really didn't change much except who signed which documents, but they all accepted the change gratefully. Grissom was happy to share his responsibilities because it meant he would be able to be home with Sara more. And Catherine was glad because it was a promotion and a raise.

Catherine had offered for the boys to use her house to throw the party that they had been talking about for Grissom and Sara. It was a 'congratulations on your relationship,' 'welcome back to work,' 'the bastard is behind bars,' 'congrats to Catherine's promotion,' and many other things kind of party. So they set up, decorated, Catherine cooked some food and they waited for everyone to arrive. They had invited just about the whole lab and half the police department. But it would be fun.

Around 2:00, the doorbell rang and Catherine answered it, smiling gleefully at the couple on the other side of the door.

"Welcome to party central." She said opening the door wider to allow them access.

"Catherine, I thought you said this was just going to be a little party." Grissom said, taking note of the amount of food that could serve a large army.

"Well, you know, you invite someone, they invite someone, who then invites someone else. Oh get over it! It's a party, enjoy it!" She said in mock-anger.

"Everything looks great Cath." Sara said, taking in the decorations and the food.

"Thank you. At least someone appreciates it." She said pulling Sara into a light hug and shooting Grissom with a death stare.

Grissom helped Sara off with her coat, hanging it over the back of Catherine's sofa with his own, revealing her slender frame, bandage free. Her stitches had been taken out a couple weeks ago, which left some pretty bad scars, but they had been expecting that. At first Sara tried hiding them, wearing turtlenecks and such, but there's only so long you can wear turtlenecks in June in Nevada. So she accepted the scars and dealt with it. The doctor said that they would fade in time, be less noticeable and that after a year if they still bothered her, she could look into some kind of plastic surgery. Grissom had a small scar on his forehead by his left temple from being hit and several small scars on his abdomen as well as the worst ones on his legs that matched Sara's. She had joked when they were getting for bed a few nights ago and told him,

"Well , at least we don't need to get matching tattoos."

Her humor was coming back to almost where it was before the incident. They were even back to sleeping in their room. They had the carpet replaced and bought a new bedroom furniture set, to start fresh, and it did a lot of good. The boards came down from the sliding glass doors in the living room. However, Sara was still very apprehensive about knowing where Grissom was all the time and making sure the doors and windows were locked and that the alarm was set. She still had the nightmares, as did he, but they were helping each other through it. They had booked a cruise line vacation for the end of August for two weeks, and they were both looking forward to it. Things were getting back on track.

The trial of Chris Karlson had concluded the day before, with him being convicted on every charge. The sentencing hearing was scheduled for next week. The entire team, Grissom, Sara and Brass had attended the arraignment and all of the motion hearings and the pretrial. They had all been called as witnesses. Sara had been terrified of testifying, but she had done great. She had broken down on the stand, and a recess was called for, but after a short break and a loving embrace from Grissom and words of encouragement, she had retaken the stand and put the nail in Karlson's coffin, Grissom testified after Sara, so he couldn't be in the courtroom when she had her testimony, but she could be in the room when he did his, and he never once moved his gaze from her eyes. Catherine, Nick, Warrick and Greg were each called to testify about the forensic evidence found at each of the eight crime scenes, and Catherine and Brass had testified to what they encountered upon arriving at the Grissom-Sidle household. Most of the jury was in tears after all of the victims had testified. And after each court appearance, they would all go out together and celebrate that he was going away for a long time. Sara had made the decision to make a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing with encouragement from the team and Grissom.

"Hey guys!" Greg called as he stepped into Catherine's living room.

"Hey Greggo." Sara said, giving him a light hug.

"Hi Greg." Grissom said, not as enthusiastic.

"Come on, the party's out back!" He said, jumping up and down like a little kid who's had too much soda.

They both looked to Catherine for an explanation for his excitement but on received a light chuckle and a shrug. So they all followed Greg out to the backyard.

"Happy Anniversary!" Nick, Warrick, Brass, Mandy, Jacqui, Archie, Henry, Hodges, Doc Robbins and David yelled, accompanied by Greg and Catherine.

Grissom and Sara were shocked. They had no idea that the team was planning. Sara looked as though she was going to cry and Grissom looked like he was going to have a heart attack from being startled by the surprise yelling.

"Oh. My. God. How did you…" Sara started before realization kicked in. She had told Catherine weeks ago about how they had gotten together after Nick's kidnapping and she had told her about their anniversary coming up. "Catherine!" She said, appreciatively.

"Happy Anniversary guys." She said sincerely, stepping forward to give them each a hug.

"You guys!" Sara said on the verge of joyful tears.

"Thanks guys." Grissom said, still a bit in shock. He didn't even know that anyone knew about their anniversary.

Everyone rushed forward to give them hugs and handshakes. After everyone moved back, Grissom exchanged a questioning look with Catherine, who smiled and nodded before turning back to the group and Sara.

"Well, thank you guys this is amazing. You didn't have to do this." Grissom started saying. "If you could all stick around for a minute that would be great." He said, receiving confused glances from everyone, except Catherine with was grinning like an idiot.

Turning to Sara, he smiled at her and took her hands and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Sara, you are my everything. And if there's one thing that I have learned in the last six weeks, it's how fragile life is, and how much I need you in mine. You keep me strong, keep me safe. Before you came into my life I was lost. But then I saw you and I was even more lost, but in a good way." He said, making everyone laugh, but they were for the most part still confused, including Sara. "Then you gave me the world back in San Francisco, but I let you go and went back to being miserable. When you came here, you opened my heart again and after five years of trying to get me to see the light, I finally caved two years ago today and I fell in love with you all over again. With you by my side I couldn't be happier. I love you." He said, taking a deep breath and pulling a small black box from his pocket. Everyone gasped and Sara let her tears roll down her face as he dropped to one knee. "Sara Sidle, will you make me the luckiest man alive and marry me?"

"Oh. My. God." Was the general consensus from the crowd as Grissom opened the box to reveal a beautiful white gold diamond ring.

"Sara?" Grissom asked after receiving no reply, and getting really nervous.

"Huh?" She said looking from the ring to Grissom, making everyone get really nervous. "Yes. Yes I will marry you." She said through tears.

"Yes?" He clarified.

"YES!" She yelled, causing him to jump up and pull her into his arms, lifting her up and spinning her around in circles.

Everyone was applauding and hugging each other. Placing her back on her feet back on the ground, he took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger.

"I love you." He said with watery eyes.

"I love you too." She replied with her own tears, leaning in for a slow, loving and passionate kiss, resulting in 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from everyone.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: You Lost

**Chapter Twenty: You Lost**

Chris Karlson was sentenced to two hundred and seventy-five years in prison after hearing the many victim impact statements. But perhaps the most compelling was that of Sara Sidle, with Grissom holding on to her through the whole hearing. Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg and Brass all sat in the front pew for support as she spoke.

"Hello. My name is Sara Sidle and I was raped by Christopher Karlson. I thought long and hard about what I would say here today, about what I should say. I could tell you that this man has ruined my life, that I will never be the same because of what he did to us, but then I realized that I won't let that happen, because then that would mean he succeeded. Then I would truly be a victim, and I don't want to live my life like that. He hurt me, he hurt the one person I love more than anything in this world, and fourteen other people, and he did it all because we were happy and he wanted to end that. So what I would like to say today is this," Turning to face the defendant, "You have not won. You will not destroy me. You will not destroy us. You will not take away our happiness. You are merely a challenge to overcome, which we will. You took something from me that day that you raped me, something that no person has a right to take, and I'll admit, that it took me sometime to realize what I'm saying now. For the last six weeks I battled, battled with myself, battled with the reasons, the what ifs, the fears and the nightmares, but what you didn't realize is that, just with one look from my fiancé, I have already gotten everything back that you took from me, from us. We will get through this, and we will get through this together. Physically I am scared, but I will not let you overtake me. You will not have my control and my power. You made a mistake in trying to take that from me, because you thought you could. You were wrong, and I'm here today to tell you that after I leave this courtroom, I won't ever look back. You will be gone and out of my life and the lives of those around me forever. I will move on with my life. I will get married, perhaps start a family and live my life just as happily as I did before, if not more. But you, you Mr. Karlson, you will do nothing but think of me, think of Gil and think of the rest of the people that you hurt for the rest of your pitiful life. Thank you." She finished, feeling stronger than she had in the last seven weeks, finally feeling her control and power returning in full force. Taking one last look at Karlson, she took a deep breath and nodded to Grissom. Together they walked out of the courtroom with the team filing out behind them, leaving this chapter of their lives behind, and looking forward to the new ones to come.

**-The End-**


End file.
